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Examined demographic, environmental, and parent-child interactional correlates of physical activity in a group of 222 preschoolers. Activity levels were assessed with a system that quantified directly observed physical activity in the natural environment. Using regression-modeling procedures, results revealed a significant relationship between (a) child's relative weight, parental weight status, and percentage of time spent outdoors (environment) and (b) children's activity levels. Parental obesity was associated with lower levels of physical activity in children, childhood relative weight was associated with slightly higher levels of physical activity, and more outdoor activity was associated with higher activity levels. Parental participation in children's activities also significantly interacted with levels of parental obesity in predicting activity levels. Those children with a 50% risk for obesity (as defined by both, one, or neither parent being overweight) had small changes in activity across levels of parent-child interaction, whereas those at higher risk for obesity responded with increased activity as parent-child interactions increased. Results are discussed, and the implications of these findings for future intervention efforts are examined.

This study investigated whether the link between stress and metabolic control in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is direct or indirect and whether this association is mediated by either social competence or parental support. Subjects included 104 adolescents with IDDM and their mothers. Measures of adherence, life stress, social competence, and parental support were obtained during the assessment session, and metabolic control was determined by averaging the adolescent's glycosylated hemoglobin levels during the previous year. Multiple regression analysis revealed that stress was directly associated with metabolic control, independent of the link between adherence and metabolic control. Multiple regression analysis also showed that social competence buffered the negative association between stress and metabolic control. Moreover, parental support was directly linked with adherence, and adolescent age was indirectly linked with adherence through its association with parental support. These findings are consistent with the developmental transitions that accompany adolescence.

The purpose of this study was to develop a model that describes the contributions of key psychosocial variables to the health outcome of adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Subjects were 93 adolescents with IDDM and their parents. Health-outcome measures included adherence and metabolic control (HbA1c). Psychosocial variables included adolescent age, chronic life stress, social competence, family relations, and family knowledge about IDDM. Multiple regression analyses showed that adherence (P less than .029) and stress (P less than .052) were directly related to metabolic control and that knowledge about IDDM (P less than .029), family relations (P less than .099), and adolescent age (P less than .086) had direct effects on adherence. Combined, the independent variables accounted for 14.5% of the variance in predicting HbA1c and 18.5% of the variance in predicting adherence. In general, these findings are consistent with extant theory. The direct link between stress and metabolic control, however, contrasts with the current view that psychosocial variables affect metabolic control indirectly through their influence on adherence behavior. The methodological limitations of the findings are noted, directions for future research are suggested, and the implications for clinical interventions are described.