Biomedical subjects

Thomas G Power

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas G Power.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Measuring feeding in low-income African-American and Hispanic parents.

Current feeding measures have been developed based on the premise that a child's obesity risk is increased when parents exert high levels of control over feeding. Although these measures provide useful ways to assess parental restrictiveness in feeding, they do not capture other important aspects of feeding that describe the behavior of parents not overly concerned about child obesity. Alternative measures are important to develop, especially for minority populations where concerns about child obesity are often not a significant determinant of parental feeding practices. The current study describes a culturally informed method used to develop a broader assessment of parental feeding strategies across two low-income ethnic groups. To be able to accurately measure cultural differences associated with feeding, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to assure conceptual, linguistic, and measurement equivalency across African-American and Hispanic parents. Based on responses from 231 parents, mean differences in feeding strategies were found with Hispanic parents reporting significantly more parent-centered/high control and child-centered feeding strategies compared to African-Americans. Furthermore, the relationship between children's weight status and parental feeding strategies varied by the two ethnic groups and child gender. Implications of these results for understanding the role of parental socialization in the development of child obesity are discussed.

Black or African American↗

PubMed2005

Intergenerational perceptions of body image in hispanics: role of BMI, gender, and acculturation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess role of BMI, gender, and acculturation on maternal and children's perception of body size, body ideal, and attractiveness. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Eighty mothers and their 6- to- 12-year-old children (41 boys, 39 girls) participated. Maternal and children's perceptions of body size (actual and ideal) and attractiveness were assessed through a pictorial instrument. Mother and child height and weight, demographic, and acculturation characteristics were also assessed. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of the mothers were overweight, and 32% of the boys and 34% of the girls were overweight or at-risk for overweight. BMI influenced the children's selection of perceived ideal size. Overweight or at-risk for overweight children were more likely to select thinner figures as the ideal size than non-overweight children. Gender and acculturation differences concerning children's perceptions of body size and attractiveness were also found. Girls perceived the obese figure as being less attractive than did the boys. More acculturated children were likely to select thinner figures as more attractive than their less acculturated counterparts. Maternal acculturation was associated positively with the girls' choice of thinner figures as an ideal body size, but not with the boys. Mothers viewed their daughters' actual body size and BMI as ideal, although 34% of the girls were at-risk for overweight. Mothers perceived average body size figures as more attractive for their sons. DISCUSSION: Findings from this study provide empirical data about the role of BMI, gender, acculturation, and familial influences on children's perceptions of actual and ideal body sizes and attractiveness.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2005

Predicting patterns of adolescent alcohol use: a longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: Because most studies of adolescent alcohol use have focused primarily on the frequency and quantity of consumption, we know little about how adolescent drinking patterns change during the high school years. The purpose of this article is to provide such data, as well as to identify some of the individual, family, social life and community predictors of changes in drinking patterns over time. METHOD: A sample of 1,253 students in grades 9 through 12 (57% female) in a large metropolitan school district participated. Three ethnicities were represented: African American, European American and Mexican American. Students completed questionnaires every 6 months for a 2-year period (n = 743 at Time 4). RESULTS: Cluster analyses of the drinking variables yielded one problem-drinking group (heavy, multiple-context drinking), two high-risk groups (i.e., date and outdoor drinking) and three normative groups (light, family/parent, moderate/ party drinking). The most predictable patterns of longitudinal changes in adolescent drinking were consistent with the following progression (or the reverse): abstainer --> normative drinker --> high-risk drinker --> problem drinker. Paternal attitudes toward adolescent drinking and peer involvement in antisocial behavior predicted movement into normative drinking; social activity with peers predicted movement into high-risk drinking; and emotional distress predicted the transition into problem drinking. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the multistage social learning model, demonstrating that the predictors of adolescent alcohol use vary across different levels of adolescent alcohol involvement.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Revisiting a neglected construct: parenting styles in a child-feeding context.

The extent to which general parenting represents feeding styles in ethnically diverse populations is not well documented. Existing measures of child feeding have focused almost exclusively on specific behaviors of European-American parents. A valid and reliable instrument was developed to identify feeding styles in parents of low-income minority preschoolers. Two hundred thirty-one parents (130 Hispanic; 101 African-American) completed questionnaires on feeding practices and parenting styles. Based on self-reported feeding behavior, parents were assigned to four feeding styles (authoritarian, n=84; authoritative, n=34; indulgent, n=80; and uninvolved, n=33). Convergent validity was evaluated by relating feeding styles to independent measures of general parenting and authoritarian feeding practices. Authoritarian feeding styles were associated with higher levels of general parental control and authoritarian feeding practices. Alternatively, authoritative feeding styles were associated with higher levels of general parental responsiveness. Among the two permissive feeding styles, Hispanic parents were more likely to be indulgent, whereas African-American parents were more likely to be uninvolved. Further, differences were found among the feeding styles on an independent measure of child's body mass index.

Black or African American↗

PubMed2004

Children's appraisal of Major Life Events.

Two hundred nine 9-12-year-olds completed items assessing their appraisal of the most stressful event in the past 5 months. Exploratory factor analyses revealed 6 appraisal dimensions (Self- Blame, External Blame, Degree of Threat, Significance, Gain, and Predictability) and 2 expectancy dimensions (Positive Outcome and Duration Expectancies). Situational variations were found for the appraisal dimensions, with the exception of Gain, Outcome, and Duration Expectancies. Implications for models of developmental psychopathology are considered.

Child↗

PubMed2004

Regulation of emotion and behavior among 3- and 5-year-olds.

In this cross-sectional study, the authors examined the relationship between emotion and behavior regulation in 3- and 5-year olds. Eighty-seven children performed a compliance sorting task. The authors manipulated the demand for emotion regulation by presenting and then hiding toys (low) or making toys visible (high). Mothers and teachers rated children's coping responses. Five-year-olds sorted less in the high condition than in the low condition, and 3-year-olds spent equal time sorting in both conditions. Compliance was positively correlated with problem-focused coping and negatively correlated with emotion-focused coping. Correlations between emotion and behavior regulation were stronger for the 5-year-olds. Age groups were differently affected by the higher demands of emotion regulation, indicating that the child's resources for regulation interact with the task demands to determine behavioral outcome.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Coping by redefinition: cognitive appraisals in mothers of children with autism and children without autism.

To test a model of how mothers cope with the stresses of raising a child with autism (Tunali & Power, 1993), mothers of children with and without autism were interviewed. As predicted, mothers of autistic children: (1) placed less emphasis on career success and were more likely to believe that mothers of young children should not work outside of the home; (2) spent more leisure time with their extended family; (3) placed less emphasis on others' opinions of their child's behavior; (4) placed more emphasis on spousal support and parental roles in their discussions of marriage; (5) had more difficulty understanding their child's behavior; and (6) showed a marginally significant difference in their tolerance of ambiguity. Moreover, mothers of children with autism who showed these characteristics had the greatest life satisfaction overall.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Identifying patterns of adolescent drinking: a tri-ethnic study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to identify common patterns of adolescent drinking in a tri-ethnic sample and to identify which patterns may be the most problematic in each ethnic group. METHOD: Students (N = 1,874, 60% female) in 9th through 12th grade (653 African Americans, 722 European Americans and 499 Mexican Americans), recruited from six high schools in a large metropolitan school district in the Southwest, completed questionnaires on their drinking practices, self-esteem and involvement in antisocial behaviors. RESULTS: Cluster analyses performed on 950 students identified eight common adolescent drinking patterns: Light, Parent, Family Occasion, Date, Moderate-Friend, Party, Outdoor and Heavy Multiple-Context drinkers. As predicted, Light, Parent and Family Occasion drinkers showed the highest levels of self-esteem and the lowest levels of drinking consequences, drinking reasons and antisocial behavior. Heavy Multiple-Context drinkers showed low self-esteem and high levels of antisocial behavior, drinking reasons and drinking consequences. Party and Date drinkers generally fell between these two groups on the drinking and adjustment variables, with the exception that Date drinkers were as likely to engage in antisocial behaviors as were drinkers in the Heavy Multiple-Context group. Among all of the drinking groups, Outdoor drinkers showed the highest levels of self-esteem, high levels of antisocial behavior and moderate levels of drinking reasons and consequences. Follow-up analyses showed that the differences between the groups on adjustment and consequences were not simply a function of the frequency and quantity of consumption. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, taken together, help identify patterns of normative, problem and at-risk drinking, which should be useful in the assessment of adolescent drinking and in future research on the consequences of adolescent alcohol use.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interactions between children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and their mothers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the degree to which mothers of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) show an overprotective or highly controlling interaction style. METHOD: We videotaped 84 mother-child pairs (42 JRA and 42 healthy, ages 6 to 13) while working on a collaborative problem-solving task. Based on physical therapy evaluations, children in the JRA group were assigned to "more severe" (n = 19) and "milder" (n = 22) arthritis subgroups. RESULTS: Results showed numerous differences between mothers of children with more severe arthritis and the other mothers (no differences between the milder arthritis and healthy comparison groups were found). Compared to mothers in the other two groups, mothers of children with more severe arthritis were more directive of their children's behavior during the task, showing higher rates of structure and rule setting, general clues, and prompting the child for an answer. DISCUSSION: Sequential analyses showed that mothers in the more severe group appeared to treat the task in a more evaluative manner, being more likely than other mothers to respond to correct answers with positive feedback and to incorrect answers with structure and rule setting. Mothers in the other groups were more likely to respond to both correct and incorrect answers with specific clues. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss how these differences in interactional style might impact the social development of children with JRA.

Adolescent↗