<p>Understanding social determinants that shape pertinent developmental shifts during emerging adulthood (i.e., those aged 18-25) and their associations with psychological health requires a nuanced approach. In our exploratory study, we investigated how multiple social identities and lived experiences generated by systems of marginalization and power (e.g., racism, classism, sexism) intersect in connection to the mental-emotional well-being of emerging adults (EAs). EAT-2018 (Eating and Activity over Time) data were collected from 1,568 EAs (mean age = 22.2±2.0 years) recruited initially in 2010 from Minneapolis/St Paul schools. Conditional inference tree (CIT) analyses were employed to treat ‘social location’ and systems of marginalization and power as interdependent social factors influencing EAs’ mental-emotional well-being outcomes: depressive symptoms, stress, self-esteem, and self-compassion. CITs identified EAs subgroups with differing mean levels of mental-emotional well-being outcomes, distinguished primarily by marginalized social experiences (e.g., discrimination, financial difficulties) rather than social identities themselves. The relative positioning of EAs’ experiences of social marginalization (e.g., discrimination) to their social identities (e.g., race/ethnicity) suggests the social experiences generated by systems of privilege and oppression (e.g., racism) are more adjacent social determinants of mental-emotional well-being than the social identities used in public health research to proxy the oppressive systems that give them social meaning.</p>

Purpose: To evaluate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between controlling parental feeding practices in adolescence (i.e., restrictive feeding and pressure-to-eat [PE]) and intuitive eating (IE) in adolescence and emerging adulthood; and explore child gender and parental concern about child weight as moderators. Methods: The sample included participants (N = 1,383) from the population-based EAT 2010–2018 study who provided data in adolescence (14.4 ± 2.0 years) and emerging adulthood (22.0 ± 2.0 years) and had at least one caregiver complete surveys in adolescence. Generalized estimating equations evaluated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between restrictive feeding and PE in adolescence and IE in adolescence and emerging adulthood. Interactions with gender and parental concern over child weight in adolescence were explored. Results: Restrictive feeding was cross-sectionally associated with lower IE in adolescence (b = −0.04), though evidence of moderation by parental weight concern indicated this association was only observed in the context of low parental weight concern. Greater PE was associated with lower adolescent IE among boys but higher IE among girls. Longitudinally, the association between PE in adolescence and IE in emerging adulthood differed by parental weight concern; greater PE predicted higher emerging adult IE at high parental weight concern, but lower IE at low parental weight concern. Discussion: Controlling feeding practices in adolescence displayed differential associations with child IE in adolescence and emerging adulthood based on child gender and parental concern over child weight. Notably, PE was associated with greater IE among adolescent girls but lower IE among boys. Results suggest that parental feeding is a valuable intervention target.

Background: Numerous observational studies show associations between family meal frequency and markers of child cardiovascular health including healthful diet quality and lower weight status. Some studies also show the "quality" of family meals, including dietary quality of the food served and the interpersonal atmosphere during meals, is associated with markers of child cardiovascular health. Additionally, prior intervention research indicates that immediate feedback on health behaviors (e.g., ecological momentary intervention (EMI), video feedback) increases the likelihood of behavior change. However, limited studies have tested the combination of these components in a rigorous clinical trial. The main aim of this paper is to describe the Family Matters study design, data collection protocols, measures, intervention components, process evaluation, and analysis plan. Methods/design: The Family Matters intervention utilizes state-of-the-art intervention methods including EMI, video feedback, and home visiting by Community Health Workers (CHWs) to examine whether increasing the quantity (i.e., frequency) and quality of family meals (i.e., diet quality, interpersonal atmosphere) improves child cardiovascular health. Family Matters is an individual randomized controlled trial that tests combinations of the above factors across three study Arms: (1) EMI; (2) EMI+Virtual Home Visiting with CHW+Video Feedback; and (3) EMI+Hybrid Home Visiting with CHW+Video Feedback. The intervention will be carried out across 6 months with children ages 5-10 (n=525) with increased risk for cardiovascular disease (i.e., BMI ≥75%ile) from low income and racially/ethnically diverse households and their families. Data collection will occur at baseline, post-intervention, and 6 months post-intervention. Primary outcomes include child weight, diet quality, and neck circumference. Discussion: This study will be the first to our knowledge to use multiple innovative methods simultaneously including ecological momentary assessment, intervention, video feedback and home visiting with CHWs within the novel intervention context of family meals to evaluate which combination of intervention components are most effective in improving child cardiovascular health. The Family Matters intervention has high potential public health impact as it aims to change clinical practice by creating a new model of care for child cardiovascular health in primary care. Trial Registration: This trial is registered in clinicaltrials.gov (Trial ID: NCT02669797). Date recorded 5/02/22.

Given emerging adulthood is a period of increased independence, it is unclear how much contact emerging adults have with their parents, how this communication occurs, and how frequency of communication differs across sociodemographic characteristics. The main aim of this study was to examine communication patterns and modalities between emerging adults and their parents. Data are from an 8-year longitudinal, population-based study of socio-economically and racially/ethnically diverse adolescents followed into emerging adulthood (n = 1539; mean age = 22.1; 53.1% female). Latent profile analysis results supported a 5-class model, in which classes were characterized by patterns of frequency of communication with parents across different modalities. The most common communication modality included medium levels of engagement (i.e., few times/week), with both parents, and was in-person or via the phone (i.e., calls, text messages, email). Results differed by race/ethnicity. Findings from this exploratory study may be useful for supporting positive communication patterns between emerging adults and their parents and may inform what intervention delivery format (e.g., phone, social media-based, in-person) may be more effective for certain parent/emerging adult subgroups engaging in family-based interventions.

Research addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial well-being and health behavior is accumulating; however, implications for emerging adult populations are underexplored. This ...

Helicopter parenting, a parenting style defined by over-involvement, may lead to poor health outcomes. However, research has primarily focused on children and adolescents from White, high socio-eco...

Healthcare professionals may motivate their patients to exercise to lose weight, but it is unknown how weight-focused motivations influence young peoples’ PA trajectories. Purpose To examine if weight-motivated exercise predicts moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) from adolescence to adulthood in a population-based sample and if this relationship differs by age and body mass index (BMI). Methods Participants (N = 1,428; 13–18 years at baseline; 48.6% female; 49.0% white) responded to surveys in the 15-year longitudinal study, Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults). Weight-motivated exercise was examined as a predictor of MVPA across the life course at five-year intervals using linear regression generalized estimating equations and adjusting for demographics (age modeled continuously), BMI (modeled continuously), weight-related intentions, and prior MVPA. Results Weight-motivated exercise predicted higher subsequent MVPA at five-year intervals among females (B = .57, 95% CI:0.13, 1.00) but not males (B = .31, 95% CI:-.09, .72). The association differed by BMI in females (p = .02); weight-motivated exercise was associated with higher subsequent MVPA at lower BMI but lower subsequent MVPA at higher BMI. The association also differed by age in males (p = .008), such that older males who reported weight-motivated exercise had higher subsequent MVPA, whereas this association was not present in younger males. Conclusion Weight-motivated exercise may have a deleterious influence on MVPA for females with higher BMI and may have an advantageous influence on older males. Understanding how motivations for exercise may influence PA trajectories can inform PA promotion over the life course by providing more nuanced guidance by age, BMI, and sex.

Adverse experiences, such as childhood abuse and other violence victimization, are associated with problematic eating. However, whether different types of adversity relate to both maladaptive and adaptive eating behaviors is unclear. This study examined the associations of different adverse experiences with maladaptive (i.e., overeating and binge eating) and adaptive (i.e., intuitive eating and mindful eating) eating by gender. Data were derived from the EAT-2018 (Eating and Activity over Time) study (N = 1411, aged 18–30 years in 2017–2018). Modified Poisson regressions were used to examine the associations between adverse experiences and the prevalence of maladaptive eating. Linear regressions were used to examine the associations between adverse experiences and adaptive eating scores. Each adverse experience was associated with greater prevalence of maladaptive eating and lower adaptive eating scores. Among women, intimate partner sexual violence was strongly associated with more overeating (PR = 2.1 [95% CI = 1.4–3.1]) and binge eating (PR = 2.4 [95% CI = 1.5–3.9]), and less mindful eating (β = −0.6, [95% CI = −0.8, −0.3]); being attacked, beaten, or mugged was most associated with less intuitive eating (β = −0.5, [95% CI = −0.8, −0.2]). Among men, being attacked, beaten, or mugged was strongly associated with more overeating (PR = 2.1 [95% CI = 1.2–3.5]) and binge eating (PR = 3.2 [95% CI = 1.6–6.5]); intimate partner physical violence was strongly associated with less intuitive eating (β = −0.6, [95% CI = −0.9, −0.2]); childhood emotional abuse was strongly associated with less mindful eating (β = −0.8, [95% CI = −1.0, −0.5]). To improve eating behaviors, adverse life experiences and the potential impact on maladaptive and adaptive eating should be considered.

Background: We investigated the percentage of insufficiently active adolescents who became young adults meeting moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guidelines. We also explored adolescent psychosocial and environmental factors that predicted MVPA guideline adherence in young adulthood. Methods: Participants included N = 1001 adolescents (mean age = 14.1 y) reporting < 7 hours per week of MVPA and followed (8 y later) into young adulthood through Project EAT. We examined mean weekly hours of MVPA, MVPA change between adolescence and young adulthood, and the proportion of participants meeting MVPA guidelines in young adulthood. With sex-stratified logistic regression, we tested 11 adolescent psychosocial and environmental factors predicting meeting MVPA guidelines in young adulthood. Results: Overall, 55% of insufficiently active adolescents became young adults meeting MVPA guidelines. On average, participants reported 3.0 hours per week of MVPA, which improved to 3.8 hours per week in young adulthood. Among female participants, higher MVPA in adolescence and stronger feelings of exercise compulsion predicted greater odds of meeting adult MVPA guidelines (odds ratioMVPA = 1.18; odds ratiocompulsion = 1.13). Among female and male participants, perceived friend support for activity in adolescence predicted greater odds of meeting adult MVPA guidelines (odds ratiofemale = 1.12; odds ratiomale = 1.26). Conclusions: Insufficiently active adolescents can later meet adult guidelines. Interventions that increase perceived friend support for activity may benefit individuals across development.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on food parenting practices used by parents of young children. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used to evaluate parents’ use of coercive, indulgent, structured, and autonomy supportive food parenting practices before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among a diverse racial/ethnic sample (n = 72) of parents of preschool-aged children. The impact of parent and child mood/behavior on use of specific food parenting practices was also evaluated during both time periods. Results revealed that most parents of preschoolers use a variety of food parenting practices, including coercive control, indulgence, structure, and autonomy support practices. The use of structured and autonomy supportive practices, however, decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the types of practices used by parents were contextually associated with the mood of the parent as well as child mood. Parent negative mood during COVID-19 was associated with higher levels of coercive control and indulgence and lower levels of structure, whereas child positive child mood was associated with greater use of autonomy supportive practices. These findings suggest that effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on family dynamics around feeding young children include shifts away from theoretically supportive approaches to parenting and highlight the roles of parent and child mood/behavior as potentially important momentary influences on food parenting during this time. Public health practitioners and clinicians working with parents of young children during COVID-19, and in years to come, should consider the potential impact of parental mood and stress, as well as child mood and behaviors. Additional research is needed to better understand how to best help parents maintain supportive feeding practices in the face of challenging situations.

Objectives: This study examines motivations for yoga and identifies unique motivational profiles among a sample of young adult yoga practitioners. This study further determines how young adult yoga...