Parent Intention to Participate in an Online Intervention to Enhance Health Behavior Change Among Youth Treated with Psychotropic Medication Who are Overweight or Obese: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

ABSTRACT

Youth with mental health disorders (MHD), particularly those who take psychotropic medications, are at increased risk of being overweight or obese (OW/OB) when compared to typical youth. Parents are important resources for interventions addressing OW/OB. However, parents of youth with MHD may face challenges that require interventions designed to address their needs. Prior to investing research funding in the development of interventions for this group, research is needed to understand factors associated with parents' decisions to enroll in these programs. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) provided a framework for examining parents' salient beliefs, direct attitudes, and intention to enroll in a hypothetical online healthy lifestyle intervention for their youth (ages 11-17) with OW/OB and treated with psychotropic medication. Parents who were enrolled in the study (n = 84) completed demographic questionnaires and a TPB questionnaire which was constructed for this study. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the direct attitude (i.e., attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) questions generally supported the three-factor model (i.e., RMSEA = .07, 90% CI .03-.11, p = .18; CFI = .96, SRMR = .06). Results from a multiple regression analysis demonstrated that direct attitudes predicted parent intention to participate in an online healthy lifestyle intervention for this sample of youth accounting for 84% of variance. In this preliminary study, the TPB appears to be a promising framework for understanding direct attitudes associated with parent intentions toward intervention participation in this population of youth. Interventions for parents of youth with OW/OB who are prescribed psychotropic medication should consider addressing these direct attitudes to improve intention.