Parental behaviour and adolescents’ emotional eating

Parents can influence their children's emotional eating behaviour through modelling processes and parenting. In this study, data on parenting (support, behavioural control and psychological control), emotional eating, and demographic variables were gathered among both parents and two adolescent children of 428 Dutch families. Structural equation modelling showed positive associations between parents’ emotional eating and adolescents’ emotional eating. Adolescent's reports of low maternal support and of high psychological control for younger adolescents and low behavioural control for older adolescents were associated with higher emotional eating. Parents’ reports of parenting were not significantly associated with adolescent's emotional eating. Multi-group analyses revealed no significant differences in associations between modelling and parenting factors on the one hand, and adolescent emotional eating on the other, by sex of the older or younger adolescent.