Childhood Obesity, Obesity
Conditions
Keywords
childhood obesity, weight stigma by association, parenting
Brief summary
Parents of children with obesity report feeling blamed for their children's weight and reluctant to seek pediatric care after stigmatizing experiences. This weight stigma by association may have direct consequences for parents, children, and the parent-child relationship. The present study builds on qualitative evidence to experimentally test weight stigma and weight stigma by association in a parent-child relationship using a large, community-based sample. In an experiment conducted via an online survey, participants were randomly assigned to view a picture of a parent-child dyad, for which parent and child's gender (male vs. female) and weight status (with obesity vs. without obesity) were manipulated. Participants read identical general parenting descriptions that adhered to American Academy of Pediatrics parenting recommendations, then rated the parent's effectiveness, helpfulness, and caring.
Interventions
OTHERMother with obesity, daughter with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother with obesity and a daughter with obesity.
OTHERMother with obesity, daughter without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother with obesity and a daughter without obesity.
OTHERMother without obesity, daughter with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother without obesity and a daughter with obesity.
OTHERMother without obesity, daughter without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother without obesity and a daughter without obesity.
OTHERMother with obesity, son with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother with obesity and a son with obesity.
OTHERMother with obesity, son without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother with obesity and a son without obesity.
OTHERMother without obesity, son with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother without obesity and a son with obesity.
OTHERMother without obesity, son without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a mother without obesity and a son without obesity.
OTHERFather with obesity, daughter with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father with obesity and a daughter with obesity.
OTHERFather with obesity, daughter without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father with obesity and a daughter without obesity.
OTHERFather without obesity, daughter with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father without obesity and a daughter with obesity.
OTHERFather without obesity, daughter without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father without obesity and a daughter without obesity.
OTHERFather with obesity, son with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father with obesity and a son with obesity.
OTHERFather with obesity, son without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father with obesity and a son without obesity.
OTHERFather without obesity, son with obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father without obesity and a son with obesity.
OTHERFather without obesity, son without obesity
Participants in this group were shown an image of a father without obesity and a son without obesity.
Sponsors
University of Michigan
University of California, Los Angeles
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Masking description
Investigator was blind to condition throughout data accrual.
Intervention model description
We conducted a 2 (parent with versus without obesity) x 2 (child with versus without obesity) x 2 (daughter versus son) x 2 (mother versus father) between-subjects experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 16 conditions. However, only five a priori hypotheses were tested.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* at least 18 years of age
Exclusion criteria
* Standard
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Parenting evaluation | 1 day | Participants responded to the prompt, To what extent do you perceive the parenting approach to be effective/helpful/caring? and rated the characteristic on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed