Relationship Between Food Security Status in a Caregiver's Family of Origin and Current Feeding Practices Among Low-Income, Single, Female Primary Caregivers.

A child's familial environment is paramount to the formation and maintenance of their health behaviors. Factors that influence a child's health behaviors include parental modeling, types of available food, timing of food availability, and characteristics of the home environment. Previous research has demonstrated an association between a caregiver's current food security status and feeding practices, but no studies have explored the association between food security in the caregiver's childhood and their current feeding practices. This study investigates the relationship between parental food insecurity (both current and childhood) and child feeding practices. The US Household Food Security Survey and the Child Feeding Questionnaire were completed by 103 low-income, single, female primary caregivers. Results indicated that caregivers who reported current food insecurity expressed greater tendency to pressure their children to eat. Caregivers who reported food insecurity during their childhood also expressed greater tendency to pressure their children to eat and a greater concern about their child's weight. These findings can serve in both research and clinical efforts as an early screening tool to indicate families most in need of accessible resources. Findings also help to highlight the transgenerational nature of food insecurity, including its residual effects on health behaviors.

Promoting Healthy Eating and Regular Physical Activity in Low-Income Families Through Family-Centered Programs: Implications for Practice.

Research concerning children who are overweight has historically focused on providing services to the affected individuals, and limited attention has been paid to their families. Further, childhood obesity prevention and clinical programs continue to be impacted by contextual factors that increase the likelihood of attrition when targeting underserved populations. This paper provides data with relevance for interventions aimed at promoting healthy eating and regular physical activity with low-income families. Participants in a childhood obesity exploratory study provided recommendations to improve programs by reflecting on specific family and contextual issues related to children who are overweight and obese. Following a thematic analysis approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 low-income, single, female parents. All participants had, at the time of the interview, at least one overweight or obese child between the ages of 3 and 8. We report the critical role of context in the etiology and challenges of childhood obesity among disadvantaged populations. Findings also highlight the need for interventions to be culturally relevant and sensitive and to create opportunities to address and discuss participant experiences of discrimination, cultural factors, and family of origin influences. Interventions that do not address these contextual factors run the risk of being unsuccessful. Our findings are important for mental and public health professionals who are interested in the direct provision of services using a combination of social determinants of systemic perspectives.

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Childhood Obesity in a Sample of Low-Income, Single Female, Parent/Guardian Households: Implications for Family Therapists.

The United States is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic that disproportionately impacts underserved and diverse populations. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 low-income, single, female, parent/guardians of an overweight or obese 3- to 8-year-old from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Following the tenets of the thematic analysis approach, interviews focused on identifying risk and protective factors influencing parental and child health behaviors associated with child weight status. Results from the interviews are organized according to the Socioecological Framework to help identify risk and protective factors at various system levels. Findings from this investigation have relevance for family therapists as they can inform clinical and advocacy-focused interventions with disadvantaged families affected by childhood obesity.

Estados Unidos está en medio de una epidemia de obesidad infantil que afecta desproporcionadamente a poblaciones diversas y marginadas. En este estudio, se realizaron entrevistas cualitativas detalladas con 16 madres/tutoras solteras de bajos recursos de un niño de entre 3 y 8 años obeso o con sobrepeso de origen socioeconómicamente desfavorecido. Siguiendo los principios del enfoque del análisis temático, las entrevistas se centraron en reconocer los factores de riesgo y de protección que afectan las conductas de salud de los padres y de los niños asociadas con el peso del niño. Los resultados de las entrevistas están organizados de acuerdo con el marco socioecológico para contribuir a identificar los factores de riesgo y de protección en diferentes niveles del sistema. Los resultados de esta investigación tienen relevancia para los terapeutas familiares, ya que pueden explicar las intervenciones clínicas y centradas en el apoyo con familias marginadas afectadas por la obesidad infantil.

Dropout rates of in-person psychosocial substance use disorder treatments: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Relapse rates for psychosocial substance use disorder (SUD) treatments are high, and dropout is a robust predictor of relapse. This study aimed to estimate average dropout rates of in-person psychosocial SUD treatments and to assess predictors of dropout. DESIGN: A comprehensive meta-analysis of dropout rates of studies of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment. Studies included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies. SETTING: Studies conducted anywhere in the world that examined SUD treatment and were published from 1965 to 2016, inclusive. PARTICIPANTS/CASES: One hundred and fifty-one studies, 338 study arms and 299 dropout rates including 26 243 participants. MEASUREMENTS: Databases were searched for studies of SUD treatment that included an in-person psychosocial component. Meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted to estimate dropout rates and identify predictors of dropout, including participant characteristics, facilitator characteristics and treatment characteristics. Pooled estimates were calculated with random-effects analyses accounting for the hierarchical structure of study arms nested within studies. FINDINGS: The average dropout rate across all studies and study arms was 30.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 27.2-33.8 and 95% prediction interval (PI) = 6.25-74.15], with substantial heterogeneity (I2  = 93.7%, P < 0.0001). Studies including a higher percentage of African Americans and lower-income individuals were associated with higher dropout rates. At intake, more cigarettes/day and a greater percentage of heroin use days were associated with lower dropout rates, whereas heavier cocaine use was associated with higher dropout rates. Dropout rates were highest for studies targeting cocaine, methamphetamines and major stimulants (broadly defined) and lowest for studies targeting alcohol, tobacco and heroin, although there were few studies on methamphetamines, major stimulants and heroin. Programs characterized by more treatment sessions and greater average session length were associated with higher dropout rates. Facilitator characteristics were not significantly associated with dropout. CONCLUSIONS: On average, approximately 30% of participants drop out of in-person psychosocial SUD treatment studies, but there is wide variability. Drop-out rates vary with the treated population, the substance being targeted, and the characteristics of the treatment.

The Relationships of Expectancies With E-cigarette Use Among Hospitalized Smokers: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.

Background: Expectancies demonstrate cross-sectional associations with e-cigarette use, but the prospective relationships between expectancies and e-cigarette use are unknown. This study examined the longitudinal associations of expectancies with e-cigarette use among hospitalized tobacco cigarette smokers. Methods: E-cigarette expectancies (e-cigarette-specific Brief Smoking Consequences Questionnaire-Adult [BSCQ-A]), tobacco cigarette expectancies (tobacco-specific BSCQ-A), and number of days used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days were assessed at baseline hospitalization, 6-months post-hospitalization, and 12-months post-hospitalization among 978 hospitalized tobacco cigarette smokers. Expectancy difference scores (e-cigarette-specific expectancies minus tobacco-specific expectancies) were computed for each of the 10 BSCQ-A scales. Cross-lagged panel models tested the relationships between expectancy difference scores and number of days used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days for each of the 10 BSCQ-A scales. Results: Though some models revealed partial associations between expectancies and e-cigarette use, only one yielded results consistent with hypotheses. Greater e-cigarette use at baseline predicted greater expectancies that e-cigarettes taste pleasant as compared to tobacco cigarettes at 6 months, which then predicted greater e-cigarette use at 12 months. To a lesser degree greater expectancies that e-cigarettes taste pleasant as compared to tobacco cigarettes at baseline predicted greater e-cigarette use at 6 months, which then predicted greater expectancies that e-cigarettes taste pleasant as compared to tobacco cigarettes at 12 months. Conclusions: Expectancies that e-cigarettes provide similar or more pleasant taste sensations as compared to tobacco cigarettes may be both a cause and consequence of e-cigarette use. Focusing on the taste experience may prove most effective in modifying e-cigarette use behavior. Implications: The current study offers the first longitudinal examination of expectancies and e-cigarette use. Results suggest expectancies that e-cigarettes provide similar or more pleasant taste sensations relative to tobacco cigarettes are both a cause and consequence of e-cigarette use. Efforts that focus on the e-cigarette taste experience may prove most effective in modifying e-cigarette use behavior.

Withdrawal exposure with withdrawal regulation training for smoking cessation: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

INTRODUCTION: Although withdrawal processes form a key motivational basis for cigarette use, smoking cessation treatments appear to exert only modest effects on withdrawal. One treatment option for further reducing withdrawal severity would be to provide smokers with withdrawal regulation training. The objective of this study was to pilot a smoking cessation intervention comprising withdrawal exposure with withdrawal regulation training. METHODS: Adult smokers (N=80) were randomized to one of two conditions: 1) Withdrawal Exposure with Withdrawal Regulation Training (WT), which included the development and application of individualized withdrawal regulation strategies over four separate sessions that spanned the first four hours of abstinence; 2) or Relaxation Control (RC) training, which controlled for the therapeutic contact of WT. All sessions occurred before the quit date, after which differential treatment was discontinued and all participants received brief counseling, nicotine replacement therapy, and self-help literature. Biochemically-confirmed (CO≤3) seven-day point-prevalence abstinence was assessed at Months 2 and 3 after end-of-treatment. RESULTS: Treatment completion and ratings of credibility and efficacy were high and equivalent across conditions. 22.2% of participants in the WT condition were abstinent at both time points, whereas 0% and 4.2% of participants in the RC condition were abstinent at Months 2 and 3 (Month 3 OR=6.5 [0.73, 59.19]). In-session withdrawal ratings suggested WT improved regulation of withdrawal symptoms, which were in turn associated with abstinence. CONCLUSIONS: This small pilot study suggests that WT promotes abstinence by enhancing withdrawal regulation. Results warrant further investigation of this innovative treatment approach.