Personality and subjective psychiatric symptoms of parents of obese youth: a controlled study

OBJECTIVE: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the relationship between parental personality characteristics and psychiatric symptoms with childhood obesity.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in third-level clinical care institution. Thirty obese adolescents and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Both mothers and fathers were accepted to participate in the study in the obese and control group. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was used to determine the personality features of the parents, and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) was used to evaluate their psychiatric symptoms.

RESULTS: According to the TCI scores, fathers of the obese group had lower scores in selfdirectedness and persistence subscales than the controls’ fathers, and mothers of the obese group had higher scores in the harm avoidance subscale and lower scores in the cooperativeness subscale than mothers of the controls. In the BSI scores, mothers of the obese group had higher scores in anxiety and somatization subscales than mothers of the controls; however, there were no differences in paternal subscales between the parents of the obese and control groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Parental personality profiles and psychiatric symptoms may affect parenting and family functions. Thus, they may contribute to susceptibility to childhood obesity, and may be an additional area to consider when addressing the psychological environment of adolescents with obesity