TY - GEN A1 - Hoffmann, Stephanie A1 - Sander, Lydia A1 - Wachtler, Benjamin A1 - Blume, Miriam A1 - Schneider, Sven A1 - Herke, Max A1 - Pischke, Claudia R. A1 - Matos Fialho, Paula Mayara A1 - Schuettig, Wiebke A1 - Tallarek, Marie A1 - Lampert, Thomas A1 - Spallek, Jacob T1 - Moderating or mediating effects of family characteristics on socioeconomic inequalities in child health in high‑income countries – a scoping review T2 - BMC Public Health N2 - Background: By explaining the development of health inequalities, eco-social theories highlight the importance of social environments that children are embedded in. The most important environment during early childhood is the family, as it profoundly influences children’s health through various characteristics. These include family processes, family structure/size, and living conditions, and are closely linked to the socioeconomic position (SEP) of the family. Although it is known that the SEP contributes to health inequalities in early childhood, the effects of family characteristics on health inequalities remain unclear. The objective of this scoping review is to synthesise existing research on the mediating and moderating effects of family characteristics on socioeconomic health inequalities (HI) during early childhood in high-income countries. Methods: This review followed the methodology of “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews”. To identify German and English scientific peer-reviewed literature published from January 1st, 2000, to December 19th, 2019, the following search term blocks were linked with the logical operator “AND”: (1) family structure/size, processes, living conditions, (2) inequalities, disparities, diversities, (3) income, education, occupation, (4) health and (5) young children. The search covered the electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Results: The search yielded 7,089 records. After title/abstract and full-text screening, only ten peer-reviewed articles were included in the synthesis, which analysed the effects of family characteristics on HI in early childhood. Family processes (i.e., rules /descriptive norms, stress, parental screen time, parent–child conflicts) are identified to have mediating or moderating effects. While families’ living conditions (i.e., TVs in children’s bedrooms) are suggested as mediating factors, family structure/size (i.e., single parenthood, number of children in the household) appear to moderate health inequalities. Conclusion: Family characteristics contribute to health inequalities in early childhood. The results provide overall support of models of family stress and family investment. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding the role of family health literacy, regarding a wide range of children’s health outcomes (e.g., oral health, inflammation parameters, weight, and height), and the development of health inequalities over the life course starting at birth. KW - Child KW - family KW - health KW - Health status disparities KW - infant KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Socioeconomic health inequalities Y1 - 2022 UR - https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-12603-4 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12603-4 SN - 1471-2458 VL - 22 SP - 1 EP - 14 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hoffmann, Stephanie A1 - Sander, Lydia A1 - Rattay, Petra A1 - Blume, Miriam A1 - Hövener, Claudia A1 - Schneider, Sven A1 - Richter, Matthias A1 - Pischke, Claudia R. A1 - Schüttig, Wiebke A1 - De Bock, Freia A1 - Spallek, Jacob T1 - Do family characteristics contribute to a socioeconomic gradient in overweight in early childhood? – Single mediation analyses of data from German preschool children T2 - Preventive Medicine Reports N2 - Children’s overweight is strongly associated with family socioeconomic position (SEP) and family characteristics (FC). There is limited research on the extent to which FC account for a socioeconomic gradient in childhood overweight. This study examined whether FC explain SEP differences in the prevalence of overweight. The study used baseline data of preschool-aged children from the German ‘PReschool INtervention Study’. The sample (n = 872, 48% girls) was recruited at kindergartens in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Data included children’s measured weight status and parents’ reports on socioeconomic indicators (e.g., school education, vocational education, income) and FC. Variables represent main determinants of overweight (nutrition: sweets consumption in front of TV, soft drink consumption, regular breakfast, child sets table; physical activity: outdoor sports; parental role model). In single mediation analyses indirect effects of SEP on overweight were analysed (OR[95%CI]). Preschool girls and boys with low parental education had higher odds for overweight than children with high parental education. Among boys, low levels of parental education contributed to the odds of overweight via indirect effects by both factors ‘sweets consumption in front of TV’ (OR = 1.31[1.05–1.59]) and ‘no sports’ (OR = 1.14[1.01–1.38]). Among girls, FC measured did not explain SEP differences in overweight. Family nutrition and parental/family physical activity contribute to inequalities in overweight among preschool boys, but not girls. Research is needed to identify FC that explain inequalities in overweight for both. KW - Child KW - Family KW - Overweight KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Socioeconomic health inequalities Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102178 SN - 2211-3355 VL - 33 ER -