A systematic review of the association between family meals and adolescent risk outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a systematic review of the literature examining the relationship between family meals and adolescent health risk outcomes.


METHODS
We performed a systematic search of original empirical studies published between January 1990 and September 2013. Based on data from selected studies, we conducted logistic regression models to examine the correlates of reporting a protective association between frequent family meals and adolescent outcomes.


RESULTS
Of the 254 analyses from 26 selected studies, most reported a significant association between family meals and the adolescent risk outcome-of-interest. However, model analyses which controlled for family connectedness variables, or used advanced empirical methods to account for family-level confounders, were less likely than unadjusted models to report significant relationships.


CONCLUSIONS
The type of analysis conducted was significantly associated with the likelihood of finding a protective relationship between family meals and the adolescent outcome-of-interest, yet very few studies are using such methods in the literature.
College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University, United States. Electronic address: samantha.goldfarb@med.fsu.edu.
Samantha S
SS
Goldfarb
School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: wltarver@uab.edu.
Will L
WL
Tarver
School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: jlocher@uabmc.edu.
Julie L
JL
Locher
School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: preskitt@uab.edu.
Julie
J
Preskitt
School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States. Electronic address: bsen@uab.edu.
Bisakha
B
Sen
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors
Adolescence; Adolescent behavior; Family dinner; Family meals; Systematic review