Objective: To examine female caregiver and adolescent dyad characteristics that predict the female caregiver's concern about their adolescent's weight and the degree to which caregiver concern predicts desire for physician intervention.
Method: Fifty-three caregivers of adolescents with persistent obesity were asked to report on their adolescent's quality of life (QOL), weight status, concern about their adolescent's weight, and desire for physician intervention.
Results: Results indicated that only caregiver-reported QOL was a meaningful predictor of caregiver concern for African-American adolescents with persistent obesity accounting for 51% of the variance and that caregiver concern predicted desire for physician intervention accounting for 46% of the variance.
Conclusion: Based on these findings, it is recommended that practitioners assess caregiver perception of obesity-specific QOL in their adolescent patients with persistent obesity, particularly those who are African-American.