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- Caregivers’ responses to children’s negative emotions: Associations with preschoolers’ executive functioningPublication . Fernandes, C.; Santos, A. F.; Fernandes, M.; Veríssimo, Manuela; Santos, António J.There is a lack of knowledge regarding the connection between parental emotional responsiveness and children’s executive functioning (EF). This study aimed to explore the relations between caregivers’ reactions to their children’s distress and children’s EF. Mothers of 136 preschoolers reported their reactions to their children’s negative emotions using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale. Children’s EF was assessed through the mothers and teachers’ reports using the Behavioral Inventory of Executive Functioning for Preschool Children. Results showed that the mothers’ perceived use of negative emotional regulation responses (i.e., punitive and minimizing reactions) was associated with lower levels of EF in children, as reported by both mothers and teachers. The association between the mothers’ use of positive emotional regulation responses (i.e., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and expressive encouragement reactions) and children’s EF was not significant. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the mothers’ use of negative emotional regulation responses accounted for significant proportions of variance in EF indexes. These findings suggest that parental socialization of emotion could be important for children’s EF. Specifically, caregivers’ negative emotional regulation responses to children’s distress may serve as a risk factor for poorer EF in children. Efforts to improve children’s EF may be more effective when parental emotional responsiveness to their distress is considered.
- Associations between emotion regulation, feeding practices, and preschoolers’ food consumptionPublication . Santos, A. F.; Fernandes, Carla; Fernandes, M.; Santos, António J.; Veríssimo, Manuela: Previous research identified emotion dysregulation, non-responsive feeding practices, and unhealthy food consumption as risk factors for childhood obesity. However, little is known about the relationships between these factors. This study examined associations between children’s emotion regulation, parental feeding practices, and children’s food consumption. The sample consisted of 163 mothers of children aged 3–5 years. Mothers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist, the Child Feeding Questionnaire, and the Child Health Section from the Parent Interview of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-B to assess model variables. Results showed that healthy food consumption was associated with higher emotion regulation abilities, higher monitoring, and lower pressure to eat. For unhealthy food consumption, the associations were in opposite directions. Higher emotion regulation abilities were also associated with higher monitoring, lower pressure to eat, and lower restriction. For lability, the associations were in opposite directions. Regression analyses revealed that children’s lability, pressure to eat, and monitoring were significant predictors of children’s food consumption. These findings suggest that children’s emotion regulation and feeding practices are important determinants of children’s food consumption. Future longitudinal studies that examine bidirectional associations between children’s emotion regulation, parental feeding practices, children’s food consumption, and potential mechanisms accounting for these associations are needed.
- Concordância entre dados antropométricos reportados vs. medidos e relação com as práticas parentais alimentares em idade pré-escolarPublication . Santos, A. F.; Fernandes, C.; Cardia, Sara; Fernandes, M.; Bost, Kelly K.; Veríssimo, M.Resumo: O presente estudo teve como objetivo analisar a concordância entre os dados antropométricos das crianças (peso, altura, respetivos IMC e z-score de IMC calculados) reportados pelos pais e medidos objetivamente pelos investigadores, bem como a sua relação com as práticas parentais alimentares. Participaram no estudo 71 famílias, com crianças entre os 2 e os 6 anos. Verificou-se uma discordância entre os dados reportados pelos pais e os dados medidos para 45,5% das crianças. Foram encontrados efeitos bidirecionais entre a prática restrição por controlo de peso e a altura e peso reportados, bem como entre a prática pressão e o peso, IMC e z-score de IMC reportados. Os resultados sugerem que perceções parentais incorretas sobre o estado ponderal da criança poderão levar a maiores níveis de práticas parentais alimentares negativas, com impacto no peso das crianças. Por outro lado, pais e filhos, influenciam-se mutuamente, pelo que os pais são reativos ao peso das crianças, mas também o influenciam.
- Factorial structure, measurement invariance and reliability of the Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) in a sample of Portuguese parentsPublication . Fernandes, Marília; Morais, Inês; Santos, Carolina; Guedes, Maryse; Ribeiro, Olívia; Fernandes, Carla; Pires, Eva; Santos, Ana Filipa; Santos, Antonio J.; Veríssimo, ManuelaAbstract: Emotion regulation is important for socioemotional and mental health development, with lifelong implications. The Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC; Shields & Cicchetti, 1997) is a widely used tool to assess emotional regulation and dysregulation in children. Despite wide use and translate into several languages, inconsistent findings have been found in its factorial structure across studies. This study addresses this gap by examining the factorial structure, reliability, and measurement invariance of the ERC in a Portuguese sample. A sample of 789 parents (mostly mothers, 90.9%) with children between 3 to 12 years old (49.3% preschoolers and 50.7% School-age) completed the scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed that the original two-factor model (Emotion Regulation and Lability/Negativity) reached an acceptable fit, however three items had to be removed, and two item residuals correlated. Full invariance was achieved regarding boys and girls. While, regarding age, only configural invariance was achieved, meaning that, different loadings should be expected between preschool and school-age children. Considering the final model the Cronbach’s alphas (α) was .66 for Emotion Regulation and .80 for Lability/Negativity. These findings provide some support for the use of the Portuguese parents’ version of the ERC with preschool and school-age children.
- Complementary feeding methods: Associations with feeding and emotional responsivenessPublication . Fernandes, Carla; Martins, Fátima; Santos, A. F.; Fernandes, M.; Veríssimo, ManuelaLearning to eat complementary foods is a crucial milestone for infants, having implications across development. The most used method for introducing complementary foods is Traditional Spoon-Feeding (TSF). However, the alternative method Baby-Led Weaning (BLW) is increasingly becoming used as it has been associated with positive outcomes. Research analyzing associations between complementary feeding methods and responsive parenting is practically non-existent. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze differences in emotional and feeding responsiveness between caregivers who previously implemented traditional vs. non-traditional feeding approaches. Caregivers (mostly mothers) of 179 children between 3 and 5 years were asked about the complementary feeding method that they had followed previously (70.4% reported using the TSF, 16.8% said they used the BLW and 12.8% used both methods simultaneously). In addition, they reported on their feeding practices using the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire and on their responses to children’s distress using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale. The results showed that parents who reported using a non-traditional (BLW or both) complementary feeding method reported less pressure to eat and minimization of reactions to children’s negative emotions, compared to parents who used a traditional method (although these reported using more problem-focused reactions). The findings suggest that complementary feeding methods and responsive parenting may be linked, leaving the question of which one sets the stage for the other.