Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Toledo / OhioLINK
2011
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1321586300 |
| id |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-toledo1321586300 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-toledo13215863002021-08-03T06:08:03Z Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status Jensen, Melissa A. Psychology Hope Optimism Parental Support Body Mass Index Childhood Obesity Weight loss With the prevalence of individuals who are overweight or obese reaching approximately half of the United States population and successful, long-term treatments for weight loss being difficult for health officials to pinpoint, the general consensus is that obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight into adulthood is difficult to accomplish. However, some individuals are able to successfully achieve a healthy weight status and researchers have become interested in understanding how these individuals differ from their less-successful counterparts. Previous research suggests that individuals who succeed at achieving a healthy weight status may exhibit strong positive psychology traits such as optimism and self-efficacy. The current study addressed the relationships among perceived parental support, hope, optimism and weight status. Additionally, the ability of these positive psychology factors to predict successful weight loss and maintenance for individuals who were formerly overweight or obese before the age of 16 was addressed. Participants included 70 undergraduate students (58.6% females) ages 18-31 (mean age = 19.5). Each participant completed a background questionnaire, the Adult Hope Scale (Snyder, et al, 1991), the Life Orientation Test, Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994), and a short questionnaire regarding their perceived level of parental support as it pertains to healthy weight management. Each participant’s height and weight were also measured. It was hypothesized that higher scores on parental support, optimism, and hope will predict a healthier BMI, and parental support will be most predictive of healthier BMI, followed by hope and optimism. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses and correlations, the levels on these three constructs were evaluated to compare individuals who are now of a healthy weight status to individuals who continue to be overweight or obese. Results indicated that parental support, hope, and optimism are not strong predictors of successful weight loss and maintenance in this population. Correlational results suggest that hope is related to the occurrence of a significant amount of weight loss. This finding promotes the idea that hope should be further researched as a component of the successful weight loss experience. Limitations in study design, the implications that the results may have on future weight- and positive psychology-related research, and future research directions are discussed. 2011 English text University of Toledo / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1321586300 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1321586300 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Psychology Hope Optimism Parental Support Body Mass Index Childhood Obesity Weight loss |
| spellingShingle |
Psychology Hope Optimism Parental Support Body Mass Index Childhood Obesity Weight loss Jensen, Melissa A. Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| author |
Jensen, Melissa A. |
| author_facet |
Jensen, Melissa A. |
| author_sort |
Jensen, Melissa A. |
| title |
Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| title_short |
Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| title_full |
Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| title_fullStr |
Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Examining the Relationships Among Perceived Parental Support, Hope, Optimism and Weight Status |
| title_sort |
examining the relationships among perceived parental support, hope, optimism and weight status |
| publisher |
University of Toledo / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2011 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1321586300 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT jensenmelissaa examiningtherelationshipsamongperceivedparentalsupporthopeoptimismandweightstatus |
| _version_ |
1719431468735791104 |