Validation of the comprehensive general parenting questionnaire and associations with children’s overweight-related behaviour and BMI

Abstract

Background: The Comprehensive General Parenting Questionnaire (CGPQ) was developed to assess the five key constructs of general parenting, including nurturance, structure, behavioral control, coercive control, and overprotection. This papers aims to determine the psychometric properties of the 85-item CGPQ and to assess relationships with children’s energy balance-related behavior (EBRB) and BMI. Methods: In this study, the CGPQ was completed by caregivers of 5-13 year olds in the Netherlands (KOALA-study, N=1821), Belgium (ChiBS study, N=318), and the United States (POETV study, N=212). Moreover, children's food intake, activity behavior, and height and weight were assessed (except for the POETV study only assessing screen time). Confirmatory Factor Analyses were used to assess the underlying parenting constructs. Finally, we regressed general parenting on BMI z-scores and EBRB of the children using cluster-analytic approaches on the parenting constructs. Findings: Psychometric analyses show that the items cluster around five key constructs to define authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and indulgent forms of parenting. Only overprotection was positively related to children’s BMI within the KOALA study. No associations with BMI were found within the ChiBS study. Parenting was related to children's use of screen media (but not in the ChiBS study) and children’s food intake. Generally, authoritative forms of parenting were related to healthy-weight promoting behaviors, whereas more overly controlling forms of parenting were related to obesity-promoting behaviors. Discussion: The proposed questionnaire may facilitate research exploring how general parenting influences children’s weight status, probably moderating on the relationship between more specific food- and activity-related parenting practices and children's EBRB.