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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311528
Title: Predicting use of effective vegetable parenting practices with the Model of Goal Directed Behavior

Author
item DIEP, CASSANDRA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item BELTRAN, ALICIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item CHEN, TZU - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item Thompson, Deborah - Debbe
item O'CONNOR, TERESIA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item BARANOWSKI, JANICE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Public Health Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/21/2014
Publication Date: 6/1/2015
Citation: Diep, C.S., Beltran, A., Chen, T.A., Thompson, D.J., O'Connor, T., Hughes, S., Baranowski, J., Baranowski, T. 2015. Predicting use of effective vegetable parenting practices with the Model of Goal Directed Behavior. Public Health Nutrition. 18(8):1389-1396.

Interpretive Summary: Parents influence their children's vegetable consumption, especially through their parenting practices. Specifically, effective vegetable parenting practices (i.e., behaviors that parents use to encourage a child's long-term vegetable intake) are important for parents to utilize and adopt. This paper identifies correlates of effective vegetable parenting practices. Habits of using effective practices were the strongest correlates, but perceived behavioral control and barriers also predicted effective practices. Further research needs to assess these correlates for their predictiveness of children's vegetable intake in longitudinal research and their utility in vegetable parenting practices interventions.

Technical Abstract: Our objective was to model effective vegetable parenting practices using the Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices construct scales. An internet survey was conducted with 307 parents (mostly mothers) of preschoolers in Houston, Texas to assess their agreement with effective vegetable parenting practices and Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices items. Block regression modeling was conducted using the composite score of effective vegetable parenting practices scales as the outcome variable and Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices constructs as predictors in separate and sequential blocks: demographics, intention, desire (intrinsic motivation), perceived barriers, autonomy, relatedness, self-efficacy, habit, anticipated emotions, perceived behavioral control, attitudes, and lastly norms. Backward deletion was employed at the end for any variable not significant at P<0.05. Significant predictors in the final model in order of relationship strength included: habit of active child involvement in vegetable selection, habit of positive vegetable communications, respondent not liking vegetables, habit of keeping a positive vegetable environment, and perceived behavioral control of having a positive influence on child's vegetable consumption. The final model's adjusted R squared was 0.486. This was the first study to test scales from a behavioral model to predict effective vegetable parenting practices. Further research needs to assess these Model of Goal Directed Vegetable Parenting Practices scales for their a) predictiveness of child consumption of vegetables in longitudinal samples and b) utility in guiding design of vegetable parenting practices interventions.