Caregiver hope and child outcomes following pediatric weight management programs

ABSTRACT

The current study examined whether caregiver hope was related to child outcomes (change in weight or health behaviors, treatment sessions attended) and caregiver outcomes (weight change, willingness to make behavioral changes) in a culturally diverse sample of 202 youth with overweight and obesity and their families participating in one of three weight management programs for children 2–18 years old. Within this treatment-seeking sample, dispositional caregiver hope did not predict willingness to make behavioral changes, number of treatment sessions attended, or treatment outcomes. These findings suggest specific efforts to foster caregiver hope within such interventions may not improve outcomes and investigation of other, potentially more modifiable caregiver and child factors may be more beneficial.

Author disclosure statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Funding

We would also like to acknowledge funding from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Junior League of Greater Kansas City, the PNC Foundation, the Kenneth & Eva S. Smith Clinical Scholars Award, Frontiers CTSA at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and the Greater Kansas City YMCA.

Notes

¹ Analyses were also conducted separately by language group, using all items available (i.e., 29 items on the Spanish version of the HHS and 30 items on the English version). The results obtained were consistent with those from analyses including all participants, and therefore are not presented in this article.

² We also completed a post-hoc exploratory analysis examining whether the relationship between caregiver hope and child outcomes varied by child age. A separate analysis examining the relationship between caregiver hope and outcomes for children below the median age (10.52 years) was conducted to rule out the possibility of differential effects of hope as a function of age. Although no empirical hypotheses were made regarding child age, no significant relationships between caregiver hope, BMIz change, percentage of sessions attended, change in fruit and vegetable consumption, or change in screen time were found among young children specifically. Given the lack of significant findings, significant differences in overall analysis results based on child age can be ruled out. Specific details of these analyses are not included in the paper.

Additional information

Funding

We would also like to acknowledge funding from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Junior League of Greater Kansas City, the PNC Foundation, the Kenneth & Eva S. Smith Clinical Scholars Award, Frontiers CTSA at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and the Greater Kansas City YMCA.