Physical and mental health outcomes associated with prior food insecurity among young adults.

Following a biopsychosocial model of food insecurity, this study examined differences in physical health and mental health outcomes among young adults ( N = 98) with and without a history of food insecurity. Young adults with a history of food insecurity had higher average levels of body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, depressive symptoms, stress, and disordered eating scores than individuals with no history of food insecurity. No differences were found with symptoms of anxiety. Future research should examine interventions targeted at decreasing negative mental health outcomes and risk for overweight among young adults who have experienced food insecurity.

The Parenting Anxious Kids Ratings Scale-Parent Report (PAKRS-PR): Initial Scale Development and Psychometric Properties.

Developmental models of pediatric anxiety posit multiple, maladaptive parenting behaviors as potential risk factors. Despite this, a standardized means of assessing multiple of these practices (i.e., anxiogenic parenting) in a comprehensive and efficient manner are lacking. In Study 1531 parents of children 7-17 years old completed an online survey via Amazon Mechanical Turk. In Study 2, a separate community sample (N = 109; 9-17 years old) was recruited and completed a comprehensive assessment battery as part of a larger study. All parents (Study 1 and 2 samples) completed the Parenting Anxious Kids Ratings Scale-Parent Report (PAKRS-PR), a measurement tool designed to assess anxiogenic parenting. Factor analysis conducted as part of Study 1 revealed a 32-item scale consisting of five factors: conflict, overinvolvement, accommodation/beliefs, modeling, and emotional warmth/support. Four of these factors were significantly correlated with parent-report of anxiety severity. Within Study 2, the parents of children diagnosed with an anxiety or related disorder reported significantly higher levels of anxiogenic parenting practices as compared to the parents of healthy controls. The PAKRS-PR and respective subscales demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity in both the internet (Study 1) and community (Study 2) samples. The PAKRS-PR may be a beneficial multidimensional parenting scale for use among anxious youths.

Parent psychopathology as a mediator of the relationship between anxiety and sleep problems in children.

INTRODUCTION: Sleep problems exert a negative impact on youths and their families. Parent and child mental health represent 2 posited, yet understudied, risk factors for sleep problems in youths. As such, this study sought to examine the role that parental psychopathology may play in mediating the relationship between child anxiety and sleep problems utilizing Internet sampling procedures. METHOD: Parents (n = 83; 90.4% female) answered questions about their own mental health, and about their child's (n = 83; 77.1% female) anxiety and sleep. RESULTS: Analyses found that parent anxiety and stress mediated the relationship between child anxiety and sleep problems. DISCUSSION: This is the first study to examine the joint roles of parent psychopathology and child anxiety in explaining sleep problems in youths. Limitations notwithstanding, these results suggest that both parent- and child-level variables are important for developing a more comprehensive understanding of child sleep problems. Future areas of research are discussed.

Predictors of emotional eating during adolescents' transition to college: does body mass index moderate the association between stress and emotional eating?

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to (1) examine perceived stress and resources to cope with stress as predictors of emotional eating during the transition to college and (2) determine whether body mass index (BMI) moderated the emotional eating-stress relationship. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 97 college freshmen (73% female; BMI: M = 25.3 kg/m(2), SD = 5.7 kg/m(2)). Research was conducted in September 2012. METHODS: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Emotional Eating Scale, and Eating and Appraisal Due to Emotions and Stress Questionnaire during the first month of college. Height and weight were measured objectively. RESULTS: BMI moderated the relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating. Higher stress predicted greater emotional eating for the lower BMI groups, but not the highest group. Greater resources to cope with stress predicted lower emotional eating. CONCLUSIONS: Greater perceived stress and poorer resources to cope with stress may contribute to emotional eating during the transition to college. The relationship between perceived stress and emotional eating may vary by BMI.

The influence of anxiety reduction on clinical response to pediatric chronic pain rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the relationship between anxiety reduction and functional outcomes in children and adolescents receiving intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation services for chronic pain (CP). Specifically, we evaluated whether: (1) anxiety changes over the course of treatment; (2) anxiety covaries with functional outcomes to rehabilitation; and (3) change in anxiety predicts change in functional outcomes from rehabilitation for CP. Using 3 separate measures assessing anxiety-related constructs, we hypothesized that anxiety would be associated with functioning, both before and following intensive rehabilitation for CP. Further, we hypothesized that a decrease in anxiety-related symptoms following rehabilitation would predict a positive change in functional outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our sample consisted of 119 children and adolescents treated for CP in an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program between 2007 and 2012. Children completed 3 measures related to anxiety (general anxiety, pain-specific anxiety, pain catastrophizing) and 2 functional outcome measures (eg, Bath Adolescent Pain Questionnaire, PedsQL) as part of clinical care. RESULTS: Measures of anxiety-related constructs were significantly correlated with measures of impairment and functioning, both at admission and at 1-month postdischarge. Regression analyses demonstrated that, after controlling for age, sex, and pain level at admission, a decrease in anxiety significantly predicted between 14% and 40% unique variance in functional outcomes. DISCUSSION: The findings of this study support existing research on anxiety and CP, specifically the relationship between anxiety and pain-related disability. This study also supports the benefit of intensive interdisciplinary rehabilitation for both reducing anxiety and increasing functional outcomes, suggesting a possible link in children's response to intervention. Study limitations and future directions for related research are discussed.