Abstract

This study explores the relationship between food-related parenting practices, satisfaction with food-related life and satisfaction with family life in mothers-adolescent children dyads with different family structures. We assessed the relationships between satisfaction with food-related life and life satisfaction as well as the relationship between satisfaction with family life and life satisfaction in mothers and their children. A questionnaire was applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 300 married or cohabiting mothers and 170 single mothers and one of their children between 10 and 17 years of age in Temuco, Chile. The questionnaire included the Family Food Behaviour Survey (FFBS), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Satisfaction with Food-related Life scale, and the Satisfaction with Family Life scale. Using principal component factor analysis in the mothers subsample, three components were detected on the FFBS: "Maternal control of child snacking behaviour", "Maternal presence during eating" and "Child involvement in food consumption". Using confirmatory factor analysis, the three factor-structure of the FFBS was validated in mothers and children subsamples of both family structures. Using structural equation modelling, we found that maternal presence was positively related to food-related and family life satisfaction in mothers and children of both family structures. A positive relationship was found between child involvement and food-related and family life satisfaction in married or cohabiting mothers. A negative relationship was found between child involvement and family life satisfaction in children of single mothers. We also found that mothers and children life satisfaction was related to satisfaction with family life and food-related life in both family structures. These findings suggest that maternal presence when adolescents eat may improve satisfaction with food-related life, with family life and life satisfaction in mothers and children independent of the family structure.