The moderating effects of acculturation on the relation of parenting strategies to unhealthy weight control behaviors in Hispanic daughters Norma Olvera a, * , Molly R. Matthews-Ewald b , Mijin Kim c , Alexandria Posada a , Madeline Rancine a , Consuelo Arbona a a Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, University of Houston, 3657 Cullen Boulevard Room 491, Houston, TX 77204-5029, USA b 2M Research Services, LLC, 500 E Border Street, Arlington, TX 76010, USA c Department of Psychological, Health, & Learning Sciences, University of Houston, 3657 Cullen Boulevard Room 491, Houston, TX 77204-5021, USA article info Article history: Received 16 December 2016 Received in revised form 5 October 2017 Accepted 6 October 2017 Available online 12 October 2017 abstract There is a dearth of research regarding the association of child and parent traits to the use of unhealthy weight control behaviors among minority girls with obesity. This study examined the moderating effects of mothers' and daughters' acculturation in the relation of parenting strategies (setting limits, monitoring and discipline) to unhealthy weight control behaviors in Hispanic girls with obesity. Participants included 148 Hispanic mother-daughter dyads (M age ¼ 39.1, SD ¼ 6.4 years; M age ¼ 11.3, SD ¼ 1.5 years, respectively). Two-thirds of the mothers were born in Mexico and 46% of them reported low levels of acculturation. In contrast, almost all daughters (90%) were born in the United States and reported high levels of acculturation. Participants were recruited through school nurses and social agencies community coordinators. Mothers and daughters completed surveys on demographic, acculturation, unhealthy weight control behaviors (daughters only) and parenting strategies (mothers only), and had their height, weight, and adiposity assessed. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that daughters' acculturation, but not mothers' acculturation, moderated the relation of parenting limit setting to daughters’ reported engagement in unhealthy weight control behaviors (b ¼ 1.12, p ¼ 0.007). That is, mothers who used more limit setting were less likely to have daughters engaging in unhealthy weight control behavior and this association was stronger among low acculturated girls than among their highly acculturated counterparts. Future research should assess cultural influences and parenting practices in a sample of Hispanic mothers and their adolescent daughters of varied weight statuses and acculturation levels. Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction Obesity in childhood and adolescence is a major health problem. It is estimated that one third of children and adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014; Ogden et al., 2016). Excess weight is a well-recognized risk factor for youth's engagement in unhealthy weight control behav- iors (UWCBs) such as regular dieting, vomiting, laxative or diet pill use, fasting, and excessive exercise (Balantekin, Birch, & Savage, 2015; Elliott, Tanofsky-Kraff, & Mirza, 2013; Goldschmidt, Aspen, Sinton, Tanofsky-Kraff, & Wilfley, 2008; Jacobi, Hayward, de Zwaan, Kraemer, & Agras, 2004). Although engagement in UWCBs does not imply the presence of a clinical eating disorder (Jacobi et al., 2004), UWCBs are associated with adverse physical and psychological outcomes, including weight gain (Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Larson, Eisenberg, & Loth, 2011; Neumark-Sztainer, Wall, Story, & Stan- dish, 2012), and increased risk for eating disorders (Neumark- Sztainer et al., 2006), substance abuse (Piran & Robinson, 2011; Pisetsky, May Chao, Dierker, May, & Striegel-Moore, 2008), emotional disorders, low self-esteem, and depression (Ackard, Fulkerson, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2011; Crow, Eisenberg, Story, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2006; Doyle, le Grange, Goldschmidt, & Wilfley, * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: nolvera@central.uh.edu (N. Olvera), mmatthewsewald@gmail. com (M.R. Matthews-Ewald), mkim6@uh.edu (M. Kim), amheysquierdo@central.uh. edu (A. Posada), mdracine@uh.edu (M. Rancine), carbona@central.uh.edu (C. Arbona). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Appetite journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.10.009 0195-6663/Published by Elsevier Ltd. Appetite 120 (2018) 557e564