Adolescent BMI growth: The of role biological and non-biological mothers

Abstract

Objectives: Mothers play a pivotal role in adolescent development, but do the impacts of biological and non-biological mothers differ? Using two different model specifications, this study evaluates the correlation between biological/non-biological mothers and body mass index (BMI) growth and tests for changes in these correlations as adolescents age into young adults. Growth trajectory estimation projects growth differences among respondents with/without a biological mother. Methods:Using 15 years of longitudinal data, analysis explores the correlation between maternal status and BMI growth with both simple and generalized models. The sample is then divided into adolescents and young adults and re-estimated to explore differences in the two groups. Finally, projected BMI trajectories test for variation in BMI growth for respondents with/without a biological mother. Results:Results suggest that race/ethnicity and age are highly correlated with BMI. Maternal and respondent are directly, but not proportionally related. The impact of non-biological mothers is much smaller than that biological mothers particularly at older ages. BMI trajectories reveal distinctly different growth for males and females and their maternal relationship. Conclusion:Analysis suggests large racial/ethnic and gender differences in BMI growth. Maternal BMI is highly correlated with adolescents' BMI growth irrespective of the mothers' biological status, but the strength of the relationship varies by age and model specification. The presence of a biological mother in the household shapes the BMI trajectory differently for males and females.