Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

Wendy Lawrence; Wolff Schlotz; Sarah Crozier; Timothy C. Skinner; Cheryl Haslam; Sian Robinson; Hazel Inskip; Cyrus Cooper; Mary Barker

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.003

Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

Wendy Lawrence^*, Wolff Schlotz, Sarah Crozier, Timothy C. Skinner, Cheryl Haslam, Sian Robinson, Hazel Inskip, Cyrus Cooper, Mary Barker

^*Corresponding author for this work

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment.

Original language	English
Journal	Appetite
Volume	56
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	46-52
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0195-6663
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.003
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2011

Keywords

Diet
Disadvantage
Educational attainment
Perceived control
Self-efficacy

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10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.003

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title = "Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment",

abstract = "Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment.",

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AU - Crozier, Sarah

AU - Skinner, Timothy C.

AU - Haslam, Cheryl

AU - Robinson, Sian

AU - Inskip, Hazel

AU - Cooper, Cyrus

AU - Barker, Mary

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N2 - Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment.

AB - Our previous work found that perceived control over life was a significant predictor of the quality of diet of women of lower educational attainment. In this paper, we explore the influence on quality of diet of a range of psychological and social factors identified during focus group discussions, and specify the way this differs in women of lower and higher educational attainment. We assessed educational attainment, quality of diet, and psycho-social factors in 378 women attending Sure Start Children's Centres and baby clinics in Southampton, UK. Multiple-group path analysis showed that in women of lower educational attainment, the effect of general self-efficacy on quality of diet was mediated through perceptions of control and through food involvement, but that there were also direct effects of social support for healthy eating and having positive outcome expectancies. There was no effect of self-efficacy, perceived control or outcome expectancies on the quality of diet of women of higher educational attainment, though having more social support and food involvement were associated with improved quality of diet in these women. Our analysis confirms our hypothesis that control-related factors are more important in determining dietary quality in women of lower educational attainment than in women of higher educational attainment.

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Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment

Abstract

Keywords

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