Parenting Self-Efficacy, Parent Depression, and Healthy Childhood Behaviors in a Low-Income Minority Population: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Objectives Childhood obesity prevention and treatment depends, in part, on parents acting as agents of change for their children. Our objective was to measure the associations between parenting self-efficacy, parent depressive symptoms, and preschool child behaviors that support healthy growth. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a randomized controlled trial. Parenting self-efficacy was measured using a 5-item version of the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC-5) scale (α= 0.8). Parent depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CESD) scale. Child outcomes included diet (24 h diet recall), physical activity (accelerometry), sleep (parent-report), and media use during meals (parent-report). We performed separate multiple linear regressions for each outcome controlling for other covariates. Results The sample consisted of 601 parent-child pairs. Median child age was 4.3 (IQR 3.6-5.1) years; median child body mass index (BMI) percentile was 79.1% (IQR 66.8-88.5%); 90% of children were Hispanic/Latino, and 6% of children were non-Hispanic Black. Median parent age was 31.5 (IQR 27.6-36.0) years; 22% of parents met criteria for depression. Parenting self-efficacy (median PSOC-5 25; IQR 24-28) was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (ρ = -0.16; p