Dataset Information

Parental incarceration and gender-based risks for increased body mass index: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States.

ABSTRACT: Although recent studies suggest that 13% of young adults, including at least one-fourth of African Americans, experience parental incarceration, little research has examined links between parental incarceration and physical health. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994-2008) and gender-based theories of stress, the authors examined whether parental incarceration is associated with increased body mass index among women but not men. Panel analysis spanning adolescence and adulthood, controlling for stressful life events, internalizing behaviors, and a range of individual, familial, and neighborhood characteristics, reveals that body mass index for women who have experienced parental incarceration is 0.49 units (P < 0.004) higher than that for women whose parents have never been incarcerated. This association is not evident among men. Similarly, in change score models between waves II and IV, women experiencing parental incarceration have a 0.92-unit increase in body mass index (P < 0.026) relative to women who did not have a parent undergo incarceration. In supplemental analysis examining if gender differences in incarceration stress response (externalizing vs. internalizing) explain these findings, the authors found that obesity status moderates the relation between depression and parental incarceration. Results suggest a stress internalization process that, for the first time, links parental incarceration with obesity among women.

SUBMITTER: Roettger ME

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3324435 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Parental incarceration and gender-based risks for increased body mass index: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States.

Roettger Michael E ME Boardman Jason D JD

American journal of epidemiology 20120321 7

Although recent studies suggest that 13% of young adults, including at least one-fourth of African Americans, experience parental incarceration, little research has examined links between parental incarceration and physical health. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994-2008) and gender-based theories of stress, the authors examined whether parental incarceration is associated with increased body mass index among women but not men. Panel analysis spanning adol ...[more]

PMID: 22437187

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Project description:BackgroundPhysical inactivity is increasing among adolescents in the U.S., especially among girls. Despite growing evidence that parents are an important influence on adolescent health, few longitudinal studies have explored the causal relationship between parental influence and physical activity. This study examines how the relationships between parental influences and adolescent physical activity differ by gender and tests whether these relationships are mediated by adolescents' self-esteem and depression.MethodsData are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The sample includes 13,246 youth, grades 7 to 12, interviewed in 1995 and again 1 year later. Logit models were used to evaluate parental influences on achieving five or more bouts of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week [MVPA] and whether the relationship between parental influence and MVPA was mediated by adolescents' level of self-esteem and depression.ResultsFamily cohesion, parent-child communication and parental engagement positively predicted MVPA for both genders one year later (odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for females, 1.09 [1.05-1.12], 1.13 [1.07-1.19], 1.25 [1.17-1.33] and males, 1.08 [1.04-1.11], 1.14 [1.07-1.23], 1.23 [1.14-1.33], respectively); however, parental monitoring did not (odds ratio and confidence intervals for females and males, 1.02 [.97-1.07]). For both females and males, self-esteem mediated the relationship between parental influence and physical activity. Depressive symptoms were only a mediator among males. Females reported higher levels of parent-child communication and lower family cohesion compared with males. There were no gender differences in levels of parental monitoring and engagement. Females had significantly lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of depressive symptoms than males.ConclusionStrategies to promote physical activity among adolescents should focus on increasing levels of family cohesion, parental engagement, parent-child communication and adolescent self-esteem.

Dataset Information

Parental incarceration and gender-based risks for increased body mass index: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States.

Publications

Parental incarceration and gender-based risks for increased body mass index: evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the United States.

Similar Datasets

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