Do caregiver cooking skills boost adolescent resilience and prosocial behavior? Results from a population-based longitudinal study in Japan

PURPOSE: Promoting positive mental health in adolescence is important for life-course well-being. We sought to examine whether caregivers' cooking skills are associated with the promotion of adolescents' resilience and prosocial behavior in Japan. METHODS: We used longitudinal data from 2018 to 2020 from the Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty (A-CHILD) study. The baseline survey was administered to all fourth-grade elementary school students (9-10 years old) and their caregivers, and a follow-up survey was administered 2 years later (n = 3,641, follow-up rate = 87%). Caregiver cooking skills were assessed at baseline using a cooking skills scale modified for use in Japan. Child resilience and prosocial behavior in fourth and sixth grade were assessed by caregivers using the Children's Resilient Coping Scale and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, respectively, and scores were rescaled to a 0-100 metric to facilitate interpretation. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine associations between caregiver cooking skills and child outcomes after adjustment for potential confounders. Mediation analyses estimated indirect effects through food-related household routines, caregiver-child interactions, and family cohesion. RESULTS: In multivariable linear regression analyses, higher baseline caregiver cooking skills were associated with higher resilience and prosocial behavior scores at follow-up. Compared with children in the lowest quartile, those in the highest quartile had resilience scores that were 8.75 points higher (95% CI: 7.38 to 10.1) and prosocial behavior scores that were 9.51 points higher (95% CI: 7.68 to 11.3) in the model adjusted for potential confounders. These associations were partially mediated by food-related household routines, caregiver-child interactions, and family cohesion. CONCLUSIONS: For early adolescents in Japan, caregivers' cooking skills were associated with children's positive mental health. An educational program that allows caregivers to learn cooking skills may be important in promoting adolescent positive mental health.