title: Cause or consequence? Investigating attention bias and self-regulation skills in children at risk for obesity.
abstract: Impaired self-regulation, especially in food-specific situations, has been linked to childhood obesity. These deficits may be acquired during the development of obesity rather than being a prerequisite thereof. The current study, hence, focused on an at-risk population versus controls. Normal-weight children of obese and normal-weight parents were tested regarding attentional flexibility, emotion regulation, and inhibitory control. A sample of 50 preschoolers of obese parents (n=25) or normal-weight parents (n=25) participated in this study. Through eye-tracking, attentional bias for food cues was measured during a visual probe task using food and toy images. Emotion regulation was assessed during a distress-evoking task, and inhibitory control was examined through a delay-of-gratification task. Both tasks are standardized and were conducted in non-food contexts. Results showed no significant group differences in overall attentional bias to food images over toy images. However, children of normal-weight parents showed a preference for toy images. Regarding emotion regulation, children in the risk group expressed significantly less overall emotional distress. In addition, less gaze aversion and bodily sadness could be observed in this group. No differences were found for inhibitory control. Findings suggest that general deficits in self-regulation are not yet present in normal-weight children at risk for obesity. Instead, they might develop as a by-product of unhealthy weight gain. Results indicate, however, that children of obese parents are less emotionally expressive compared with children of normal-weight parents. Furthermore, children of normal-weight parents appeared to be more interested in toy images than in food images.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; MaxNetAging Research School, 18057 Rostock, Germany. Electronic address: mehl@cbs.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mehl
authors.affiliation: Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daum
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Klitzing
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Leipzig University Medical Center, CRC 1052A5 "Obesity Mechanisms," 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horstmann
mesh_terms: D000070379:Attentional Bias / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D000068356:Self-Control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attention bias; Childhood; Emotion regulation; Obesity; Self-regulation