This study examined the relationship between the accuracy of parental reporting of children's sleep duration compared to objectively measured child sleep and tested whether any discrepancies were related to childhood obesity prevalence in a sample of Latinx families (N = 119). A paired sample t-test revealed that parents significantly…

Body dissatisfaction (BD) is a common experience among preadolescent girls and a robust risk factor and precursor to eating pathology (EP). Although the relationship between BD and EP has been well documented, there is less research exploring the factors that may make this relationship more or less pronounced. In the current study, we investigated…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K), this study aimed to identify body mass index (BMI) trajectories from kindergarten to eighth grade using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM), examine the relationships between BMI trajectories and adolescents' school achievement (reading and math), determine…

The present study examined associations between effortful control, a trait marker of self-regulation, adaptive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system functioning (as reflected by the cortisol awakening response [CAR]), and concurrent and longitudinal depressive problems, in a sample of preadolescent Latino youth (N = 119, mean age = 11.53…

Emotional eating, defined as eating in response to affect, may increase during early adolescence, a time of heightened emotionality and increased prevalence of emotional disorders. We investigated change in emotional eating, while also testing the influence of social-emotional risk factors. Study participants (N = 379, mean age [M[subscript age]]…

In adolescence, the complexity of human ontogenesis embraces biological growth and maturation as well as mental, affective, and cognitive progress, and adaptation to the requirements of society. To accept our morphological constellation as part of our gender may prove a problem even to a child of average rate of maturation. The main purposes of…

Childhood obesity continues to be a major concern in the United States, warranting a comprehensive approach. However, the majority of research studies continue to neglect the influence of peers on dietary behaviors. The present descriptive study aimed to provide information about the ways peers directly shape dietary choices via food exchanges…

The current study replicated and extended previous research on disordered eating and dietary intent (i.e., self-reported restriction of caloric intake with the purpose of losing weight) in boys and men by examining the direct and indirect influence of sociocultural pressure, social body comparisons, internalization of societal appearance ideals,…

This study examined longitudinal relations between sleep and body mass index (BMI) from late childhood ([X-bar] age = 9.44 at T1) to early adolescence ([X-bar] age = 11.36 at T3) with a relatively large (n = 273 at T1) and diverse (35% African Americans) sample. Sleep was assessed with actigraphy-based sleep minutes and self-reported sleep…

This study investigated the direct and indirect effects of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors in predicting disordered eating behaviors in girls with overweight/obesity. A total of 135 Hispanic and African American girls ([x-bar][subscript age] = 11.13 ± 1.54 years) completed surveys assessing the desire to be thinner, peer…

This article's aim is to examine correlates of middle school students' body mass index (BMI). Little research simultaneously has considered both child and parent correlates in predicting child's BMI; we examine the interrelationships between middle school students and their parent's risks and protective factors and their impact on the child's BMI.…

This study assessed how socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity, and birth weight interacted to predict differential patterns of body mass index (BMI) growth among U.S. children born in the early 1990s. Three BMI growth trajectories emerged--one above the 50th percentile across the age range of 5 to 14, one in which children rapidly became…

Multiple measures of body dissatisfaction and behaviors associated with disordered eating were studied in 258 White girls, 223 White boys, 106 Black girls, and 82 Black boys. All participants were unpaid volunteers between the ages of 12 and 15 attending six middle schools in Delaware and Maryland. On two self-ideal figure drawing discrepancy…

This study prospectively examined pubertal timing and peer victimization as interactive predictors of depressive symptoms in a racially diverse community sample of adolescents. We also expanded on past research by assessing body esteem as a mechanism by which pubertal timing and peer victimization confer risk for depression. In all, 218…

Obesity continues to plague U.S. school-age populations. A number of individual/structural circumstances have been identified as increasing the risk of poor health among children. The article's aim is to examine some of these circumstances and their relationship to students being overweight/obese, while highlighting resource variables as potential…