The Application Of Parental Authority Questionnaire In Health

Obesity and overweight, which has been classified by World Health Organization as one of the top ten risk factors for disease, is becoming an increasingly global problem.The excessive body weight is the result of an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Research shows both parenting style and parents’ dietary and physical activity behaviors could contribute to the development of those health behaviors of their children.Methods: This article consists of two studies. Study 1 focuses the test of reliability and validity of Parental Authority Questionnaire(PAQ). In Study 2, Parental Authority Questionnaire, Food Frequency Questionnaire and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire were completed by 176 pairs young adult and their parent. Comparisons of Body Mass Index(BMI), energy consumption and physical activity expenditure between young adult and their parent were conducted with correlation analyses. In addition, multiple linear regression analyses were used for examining the moderation function of parenting style in the relationship.Results:(1) The reliability and validity of revised Parental Authority Questionnaire confirmed the psychometric standards. The revised version of Parental Authority Questionnaire can be a measurement tool in testing parenting styles of Chinese participants.(2) Parents’ BMI were weakly positively associated with those of their young adult children r =.19, p<.05;In addition, young adult and parent participants’ average dietary consumption per day had a strong correlation, r =.53, p <.001.And no significant correlation between young adult and parent participants’ weekly physical activity was found r=.08, p=.17(3) The score of authoritarian parenting style moderated the relationship between young adults’ and parents’ BMI(p <.01). At high levels of the authoritarian parenting style, there is a stronger positive relationship between young adults’ and their parents’ BMI than at medium levels of authoritarian parenting style. An inverse relationship occurs only for those with low levels of authoritarian parenting score.(4) The score of permissive parenting style moderated the relationship between young adults’ and parents’ average dietary consumption per day(p <.05). At low levels of the permissive parenting style, there is a stronger positive relationship between young adults’ and their parents’ average daily dietary consumption than at medium levels of authoritarian parenting style. In contrast, at high levels of the permissive parenting style, there is a weaker positive relationship between young adults’ and their parents’ average daily dietary consumption than at medium levels of authoritarian parenting style.Conclusion:Study confirmed after children leave the family environment, parents and children are still correlated in terms of BMI and dietary intake, parenting behavior of parents will continue to have impact on children BMI and dietary behavior. This provides feasible suggestions for families and society to control the obesity developing healthy behaviors on adolescents and young adults. At the same time, this study provides theoretical and empirical basis for considering parenting factor for future intervention studies in controlling obesity in adolescents.