Open AccessMental Health, Behavior Change Skills, and Eating Behaviors in Postpartum Women
Author(s) -
Yang Yu,
Qianheng Ma,
I. Diana Fernandez,
Susan W. Groth
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
western journal of nursing research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.552
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1552-8456
pISSN - 0193-9459
DOI - 10.1177/01939459211021625
Subject(s) - overeating , emotional eating , self efficacy , clinical psychology , psychology , psychological intervention , mental health , postpartum period , randomized controlled trial , medicine , psychiatry , obesity , eating behavior , pregnancy , psychotherapist , biology , genetics
Excessive postpartum weight retention conveys risks for future metabolic diseases. Eating behaviors influence postpartum weight retention; however, the modifiable predictors of eating behaviors remain unclear. Using data from a three-arm, randomized controlled trial, the purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations of mental health (e.g., depressive symptoms) and behavior change skills (e.g., self-efficacy) with eating behaviors (i.e., compensatory restraint, routine restraint, emotional eating, and external eating) among women (N = 424) over 18-months postpartum. Results revealed that depressive symptoms, perceived stress, healthy eating self-efficacy, overeating self-efficacy, self-weighing, and problem-solving confidence were associated with one or more of the examined eating behaviors. Furthermore, depressive symptoms moderated the association between healthy eating self-efficacy and routine restraint. Perceived stress moderated the associations between healthy eating/overeating self-efficacy and emotional eating. The findings suggest that mental health and behavior change skills may serve as targets for interventions designed to improve postpartum women's eating behaviors. Clinical trials registry: ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01331564.