Steinsbekk, S;
Bjørklund, O;
Llewellyn, C;
Wichstrøm, L;
(2020)
Temperament as a predictor of eating behavior in middle childhood - A fixed effects approach.
Appetite
p. 104640.
10.1016/j.appet.2020.104640.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
1-s2.0-S0195666319310414-main.pdf - Published Version Download (580kB) | Preview |
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individual differences in temperament are believed to influence the development of children's eating behavior. This hypothesis has predominantly been tested in cross-sectional designs and important confounders such as genetics and stable parenting factors have not been accounted for. The present study aims to establish more clearly than previous studies if temperament is involved in the etiology of eating behavior in middle childhood. METHODS A community sample of Norwegian children (n = 997) were followed biennially from age 4 to age 10. Temperamental negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency were measured by The Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). The Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) captured four ‘food approach’ behaviors (‘food responsiveness’, ‘enjoyment of food’, ‘emotional overeating’, ‘desire to drink’) and four ‘food avoidant’ behaviors (‘emotional undereating’, ‘satiety responsiveness’, ‘food fussiness’, ‘slowness in eating’). The prospective relationships between temperament and eating behavior were tested with fixed, random and hybrid effect models, which adjust for all unmeasured time-invariant factors (e.g. genetics, common methods over time) RESULTS Over and above unmeasured time-invariant confounders, higher negative affectivity predicted more ‘food approach’ and ‘food avoidant’ behavior, as did low effortful control, although less consistently so. Greater surgency was prospectively related to more ‘food approach’ and less ‘food avoidant’ behavior, but only at some ages and with the exception of emotional over- and under-eating. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that temperament is involved in the etiology of children's eating behavior. Negative affectivity, in particular, may affect both ‘food approach’ and ‘food avoidant’ behavior. Because children prone to react with negative affect are at increased risk of obesogenic and disordered eating behaviors, their parents should be particularly aware of how to support healthy eating.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Temperament as a predictor of eating behavior in middle childhood - A fixed effects approach |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104640 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104640 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Eating behavior, appetite, temperament, negative affectivity, prospective, fixed effects |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10092672 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
