Examination of the Interaction between Parental Military-Status and Race among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Adolescents with Overweight/Obesity.
J Pediatr Psychol
; 47(7): 743-753, 2022 07 19.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35238941
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Adolescent military-dependents experience distinct risk and protective factors, which may necessitate additional clinical considerations. In civilian youth, overweight/obesity is associated with eating, internalizing, and externalizing difficulties, with some studies reporting more difficulties among non-Hispanic White (vs. non-Hispanic Black) youth. It is unknown if these disparities exist among adolescent military-dependents, or between civilian and military-dependent youth.METHODS:
Non-Hispanic Black (187 civilian, 38 military-dependent) and non-Hispanic White (205 civilian, 84 military-dependent) adolescents with overweight/obesity (14.7 ± 1.6 years; 73.9% girls; body mass index adjusted for age and sex 1.9 ± 0.5) completed a disordered-eating interview; parents completed a measure assessing their child's internalizing and externalizing difficulties. Multiple linear regressions examined parental military-status as a moderator of the relationship of participant race with eating, internalizing, and externalizing difficulties.RESULTS:
White civilian youth with overweight/obesity reported significantly greater disordered-eating than their Black peers (p < .001); there were no other significant racial differences. In all regressions, parental military-status significantly moderated the association between race and each dependent variable (ps < .047). Black military-dependents (vs. civilians) reported more disordered-eating and internalizing difficulties (ps = .01). White military-dependents (vs. civilians) reported fewer externalizing difficulties (p = .01).CONCLUSIONS:
Black adolescent military-dependents with overweight/obesity may experience more eating and internalizing difficulties (vs. civilians), a pattern not observed among White participants. Future work should examine if being a military-dependent and a historically marginalized racial group member accounts for these findings. Such data may inform providers of youth with intersecting minority identities.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Feeding and Eating Disorders
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Military Personnel
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Female
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Humans
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Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Pediatr Psychol
Year:
2022
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States