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Experimental investigation of parents and their children's social interaction intentions towards obese children
Author(s) -
Wolfenden Luke,
McKeough Alyce,
Bowman Jennifer,
Paolini Stefania,
Francis Lynn,
Wye Paula,
Puhl Rebecca
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12285
Subject(s) - medicine , overweight , developmental psychology , scale (ratio) , perception , social relation , telephone survey , obesity , psychology , social psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , marketing , neuroscience , business
Aim The aim of this study was to determine if parent intentions to facilitate social interactions between their child and a peer, or parental perceptions of their child's peer social interaction intentions, differ according to the weight status of a child's peer. Methods During a telephone survey, 250 A ustralian parents of children 5–12 years were randomly assigned to listen to one of two descriptions of a hypothetical child differing by group in the description of child weight status (‘quite overweight’ or ‘healthy weight’). Parents then completed the S ocial I nteraction I ntention S cale, which assessed how likely they or their child would engage in a number of behaviours that may facilitate social interaction with the child described in the profile. Results Means scores on the overall scale and the child sub‐scale of the C hild S ocial I nteraction I ntention S cale were significantly higher among participants allocated to the healthy weight child profile, indicating more positive social intentions. Conclusion The findings suggest that negative weight‐based stereotypes hinder the development of peer friendships by obese children.