A Longitudinal Study of Perceived Stress, Tangible Social Support, and Gender on Mexican American Parental Feeding Practices

Objective: This study examined the association between perceived stress and perceived tangible social support on parental feeding practices in a sample of Mexican American parents of young children. Tangible social support was examined as a potential moderator of perceived stress on parental feeding. Results by parent gender were also examined. Method: A secondary analysis of data from a 2-year, longitudinal cohort study of parental feeding practices and child weight status was used. The sample consisted of (N = 495) Mexican American parents. Random effects models that accounted for the interdependence of couples were used to test hypotheses. Results: Perceived stress was negatively associated with positive involvement, b = −0.07, SE = 0.03, 95% confidence interval [−0.12, −0.02], in both parent genders. Parent gender moderated the association between tangible social support and pressure to eat, F(1, 886) = 3.94, p =.048, with fathers reporting less pressure to eat behavior than mothers at high levels of support. Parent gender moderated the interaction between tangible social support and perceived stress on pressure to eat, F(1, 851) = 8.02, p =.005, such that for low-stress mothers, going from low to high tangible social support was associated with an increase in pressure to eat behavior. Also, for fathers with low tangible social support at baseline, going from low to high stress was associated with a decrease in pressure to eat. Conclusions: Perceived stress among Mexican American parents serves as a barrier to healthful feeding practices. However, both cultural and structural forces may influence pressure to eat behavior in this population. Implications for childhood health are examined.