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The study explores female caregivers' reflections on their relationship with their child (2-5 years old) and the development of their child's dietary and physical activity behaviors. Five, 90-minute semistructured focus groups were conducted to inquire about children's growth, eating behaviors and routines, physical activity, personality, and the parent-child relationship. Nineteen female caregivers diverse in race/ethnicity, age, and educational attainment participated. Participants reported that they maintained a schedule, but needed to be flexible to accommodate daily responsibilities. Family, social factors, and day care routines were influences on their children's behaviors. The main physical activity barriers were safety and time constraints. Guidance from pediatric primary care providers aimed at supporting female caregivers to build a positive foundation in their parent-child relationship, and to adopt and model healthy diet and physical activity behaviors that are respectful of schedules and barriers should be a priority for childhood obesity prevention.

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Parents of adolescents who have suicide crises (i.e. suicide attempt and/or significant ideation) are often highly involved in the care management, treatment and preventing future suicides of their children. How they experience these suicide crises, and the period afterward, has not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to understand parents' (defined in this study as any legal guardian of an adolescent taking on a parental role) experience of adolescent suicide crises and its impact on themselves and the family system. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with parents (N = 18) of adolescents who had a suicide crisis in the past 3 years. Thematic analysis was used with a combined inductive‐deductive coding approach, drawing from Diamond's conceptualization of family treatment engagement for suicidal youth and iterative close readings of transcripts. Five themes emerged related to parent experience: Trauma of the Experience (subtheme: Feelings of Failure); Living in Fear; Alone and Seeking Connection; Lasting Impact; and A New Normal (subtheme: Turn the Pain to Purpose). Parents experienced these events as traumatic, damaging their sense of self. They experienced long periods of time where fear and loneliness dominated their lives. Recovery was both an individual and a family process, occurring in tandem with, but distinct from, adolescent experiences. Descriptions and illustrative quotes illustrate parent experiences and their understanding of the impact on the family system. Results highlighted that parents require support both for themselves and as caregivers for adolescents around an adolescent's suicide crisis and that family‐focused services are vital.

Introduction: Suicide is a serious mental health concern and the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Suicide risk is a complex interaction of social, psychological, and physiological factors. Previous research has identified family functioning as being related to adolescent suicide risk, but it is not well studied in clinical settings. This study uses the Behavioral Health Screen–Primary care (BHS-PC) to examine the relationship between current suicide risk in adolescent and a dysfunctional family environment. Method: Adolescents presenting for primary care appointments (n = 6,609; age 14–17) completed the BHS-PC, a broad-based, psychometrically validated screening tool that measures a wide range of adolescent behavioral and mental health concerns. Using data from the BHS-PC, hierarchical logistic regression modeling was used to build and compare models of current suicide risk to determine the effect of including family factors. Fisher’s Exact test was utilized to examine the relationship between family functioning and firearm access, a critical factor in youth safety and risk of completing suicide. Results: In the final model, three family functioning related variables were associated with current suicide risk in adolescents: never talking to adult family member about their concerns, witnessing violence in the home, and arguing in the home. In addition, all but one family functioning factor was related to adolescent firearm access. Conclusions: Family functioning and access to firearms are critical to understanding adolescent suicide risk. Utilizing a holistic approach in primary care to screen for adolescent suicide risk may improve clinical response and linkages to care.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between demographics, family exercise participation, family discouragement of exercise, and the children’s physical and sedentary behaviors to identify specific areas of physical activity intervention for children with parents engaged in medical weight management (MWM). Methods: Parents (n = 294) of children aged 2–18 years old were recruited from two university MWM programs to complete a one-time survey. Bivariate analyses tested associations. Results: Parents reported that sedentary activity was higher for children who identified as racial minorities (t(141) = −2.05, p < 0.05). Mobile phone and tablet use was higher for adolescents compared to school age and young children (H(2) = 10.96, p < 01) Exercise game use was higher for racial minority children compared to white children (U = 9440.5, z = 2.47, p ≤ 0.03). Male children (t(284) = 1.83, p < 0.07), children perceived to have a healthy weight status (t(120) = 4.68, p < 0.00), and younger children (t(289) = 1.79, p < 0.08) all engaged in more strenuous physical activity. Family exercise participation (t(162) = −2.93, p < 0.01) and family discouragement of exercise (U = 7813.50, z = −2.06, p ≤ 0.04) were significantly higher for children in racial minority families. Conclusions: Future work should determine methods to engage children and their parents participating in MWM in physical activities together to ensure that the changes the parents are making with MWM are sustainable.

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