Parental Readiness for Change and Involvement as a predictor of medical and psychosocial outcomes in children seeking treatment for Obesity

Introduction: Several studies have demonstrated benefits of parental involvement in intervention programs for Childhood Obesity. Limited research is available on Parent Readiness for Change. This study assessed Parent Readiness for Change (PRC) and involvement in a 12-week multidisciplinary program for obese children, as a predictor of medical and psychological outcomes. Methods: Forty-nine children aged 6-16 (M=10.47) participated. Of the parents in the program, 86% were mothers, 7 % were fathers, and 7 % were relatives. The parental mean age was M=39.6. PRC was assessed using a program developed measure based on the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) scale. A bi-weekly survey was administered to measure parental involvement. Results: The Contemplation stage, (still unsure about wanting to make any changes) had the highest mean score on the PRC (M = 35.27). Total PRC and Parental involvement did not contribute any unique variance to the models and was not a significant predictor of outcomes. A significant effect of Total PRC on attendance to parent support group sessions was observed, t (4) = 3.746, p<.05. Conclusions: Parent participation appears to be critical to overall parental readiness for change. Parents were still in contemplation in this study (the phase of change in which little progress is made on behavior) which is likely related to the lack of significance in the models. Parent readiness for change and involvement should be assessed further to understand what role parents play for effective intervention for obese children.