The research on the relationship between child obesity and self-esteem, and the influencing factors on the results of weight-losing program

• Main Authors: Yuan-Ling Wang, 王元玲
• Other Authors: Pei-Yung Liang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/03282151639939891282

碩士 === 中原大學 === 心理學研究所 === 91 === Abstract The purpose of this research was twofold:（1）to explore if there exists a difference between the self-esteem of obese children who join weight-losing programs and that of normal weight children, and to explore, with the intervention of weight-losing program, the relationship between the amount of weight lost and the degree of self-esteem increased;（2）to explore the influence of some psychological factors, namely, the degree of parents' involvement and children’s locus of control, on childrens’ weight-losing behaviors and the amount of the BMI reduced right at the end of the intervention. The subjects were recruited with purposive sampling. The obese group consisted of 45 (24 boys, 21 girls) subjects with an average age of 10.2 from the weight-losing programs of two medical centers during summer vocation, and the control group consisted of 43 normal weight children（22 boys, 21 girls）with an average age of 10. All subjects were administrated with the Elementary Child Self-Concept Scale and the scores between different aspects of the self-esteem of these two groups were compared. Three months later, after the intervention of the weight-losing program, the subjects’ scores of self-esteem were measured again and compared with their previous ones. Prediction of the changes on self-esteem was made with the amount of BMI change and other mediators, namely, gender, age, socioeconomic status and academic achievement. In addition, the relationship of the variables measured with the Parents Involvement Degree Questionnaire, the Internal-External Control Scale for Children, and the Children Weight-Losing Behavior Scale and the amount of BMI reduced right at the end of the intervention were explored. The data were analyzed with ONE-WAY ANOVA, one factor repeated measure ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. The main findings were stated as follows: 1. Before the intervention, the holistic self-esteem of the obese group was significantly lower than that of the control group, especially in regard of appearance esteem and body esteem. 2. Three months later, after the intervention, the holistic self-esteem and the family, school, and emotion dimensions of the BMI decrease group significantly increased, but this increment cannot be accounted by the amount of the BMI reduced. 3. There was a significant positive correlation between parents’ involvement（providing psychological support, making change on cooking method, calculating the amount of nutrition and food, controlling environment cues, and supervising upon children’s record and actions on diet and exercises） and children’s weight-losing behaviors（classroom performance, diet recording, exercise performance, daily activity recording and weight recording）. 4. There was no significant difference between internal control children and external control children regarding weight-losing behaviors. 5. There was a significant negative correlation between children’s weight-losing behaviors and the amount of the BMI reduced. 6. There was a significant negative correlation between parents’ involvement and the amount of the BMI reduced. The results could be applied for weight-losing program designing and counseling.