Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Parents: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

We conducted a cluster randomised controlled trial of parents in 56 primary schools and community service centres (clusters) to evaluate the effectiveness of a single-session workshop on promoting more fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. A total of 803 parents were randomised to the FV intervention arm (16 clusters, n = 197), the more appreciation control arm (19 clusters, n = 270), or the less criticism control arm (21 clusters, n = 336). The FV intake of the FV arm was compared with that of the combined more appreciation or less criticism (MALC) arm. Both arms received a 2 h workshop: (i) the FV arm on increasing FV consumption and related food literacy; (ii) the MALC arm on increasing appreciation or reducing criticism of children. Primary outcomes were FV consumption per day in the past week assessed at baseline, 2-weeks, and 6-weeks. Secondary outcomes were behavioural determinants proposed by the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA), including outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention, and planning behaviour. The FV arm had a greater increase in FV consumption than the MALC arm, with large effect sizes (d: 0.97-1.08) and improvements in behavioural determinants with small effect sizes at all time points (d: 0.19-0.43). Our study was the first population-based randomised controlled trial to show that a brief, single 2 h HAPA-based workshop was effective in promoting fruit and vegetable intake in parents.

A cluster randomized controlled trial of more appreciation and less criticism in Hong Kong parents.

Our cluster randomized controlled trial tested, respectively, 2 brief interventions to promote more appreciation and less criticism in Hong Kong Chinese parents toward their children and to enhance family well-being. We randomized 56 primary schools and community service centers (clusters of parents of primary grades 3-6 students) to the more appreciation (MA) or less criticism (LC) intervention arms, or fruit and vegetable control arm (FV). A total of 803 parents received a 2-hr workshop on increasing appreciation (19 clusters, n = 270), reducing criticism (21 clusters, n = 336), or increasing fruit and vegetable consumption (16 clusters, n = 197) and were assessed at baseline, immediately after the workshop, at 2 weeks, and at 6 weeks. Primary outcomes were parents' frequency of appreciation and criticism behaviors. Secondary outcomes were family well-being and potential behavioral determinants proposed by the Health Action Process Approach, including outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, intention, and planning behavior. At 6 weeks, the MA and LC arms reported greater increases in appreciation behavior than the FV arm, and the LC arm reported greater decreases in criticism than the FV arm, with small effect sizes. Specific improvements were also observed in the behavioral determinants at various time points compared with the FV arm. Similar improvements in family well-being were observed across all arms. Our findings were the first to show that brief Health Action Process Approach-based workshops on Chinese parents were effective in promoting positive parental behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Body dissatisfaction, maternal appraisal, and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong adolescents.

Body dissatisfaction, its risk factors and association with depressed mood have been well investigated in the West. However, more studies are needed to examine further the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms and the factors influencing body dissatisfaction in non-Western cultures. The present study examined in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms, and the relation of maternal appraisal of their adolescent's figure to the adolescent's body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. We obtained information from 379 boys and 254 girls about their body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. Their mothers provided information about their appraisal of their adolescent's body shape and size compared to ideal. Body dissatisfaction was related to depressive symptoms in girls (B = 2.58, p <.01), but not in boys (B = -0.08, p >.10). Negative maternal appraisal did not have direct effects on adolescents' depressive symptoms (B = 0.14, p =.75), but the association between negative maternal appraisal and body dissatisfaction was significantly stronger in adolescents whose ideal was smaller than they perceived themselves to be (B = 0.32, p <.01) than those whose ideal was larger than their own perception (B = 0.14, p < .01). Our findings suggest that maternal appraisal had indirect effects on mood, acting through adolescents' body dissatisfaction, and that body dissatisfaction may be a sex-specific risk factor for depression. This study points to the need for testing and adapting programs to reduce body dissatisfaction particularly in girls at risk for depression, and to raise mothers' awareness of the link between their negative appraisals and their adolescents' body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms.