Modeling the relationship between family home environment factors and parental health

Introduction: Understanding parental health is an important part of understanding family health. Previous research suggests that family meals, familial relationship satisfaction, and family physical activity may separately be related to physical health. Method: The current study aims to combine these variables into a structural equation model to determine the collective relationship they have with adult health within a sample of parents (n = 1,435). Most parents were married, White, and highly educated. Results: The relationship between family meals and parental health was significant (β =-.07, t=-2.29, p < .05), with the full model having adequate fit and accounting for some of the overall variance in parental health. Familial relationship satisfaction and family physical activity were not found to be associated with parental health. Exploratory findings of the sample stratified by biological sex are described. Discussion: Findings from the current study were consistent with a systemic perspective in that parents may have health benefits when they participate in family-level behavior (e.g., family meals). Additional areas for research and limitations to the current study are also discussed.