Parental use of psychological and behavioural control and the relationship to children's eating habits

• Author / Creator

  Soco-Kinsella, Karyna

• This correlational study examined parent-feeding practices, children’s negative affect towards food, and parental psychological and behavioural control, and parenting styles relating to parental behavioural and psychological control. Parents and their children aged 9-13 years completed self-report questionnaires measuring parental behavioural and psychological control, feeding practices, parenting styles and dimensions, and family eating and activity habits. Behavioural control was negatively related to monitoring, but positively correlated to parents using both pressure and rewards to encourage children to eat. Psychological control was negatively correlated to monitoring, but positively correlated to parents’ perceptions of their own weight and concerns’ about their children being overweight. No correlations were found between parents’ perceived use of psychological or behavioural control and children’s perceptions of parental control. Parental psychological control was positively correlated to children and parents eating in problematic situations. The three main parenting styles were investigated and behavioural and psychological control were positively related to authoritarian and permissive parenting styles.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Parenting
  • Eating habits
  • Parenting styles
  • Controls

• Graduation date

  Fall 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Masters of Education

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R30Q6C

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.