Loading...
Publication
Caregivers’ perceived emotional and feeding responsiveness toward preschool children: Associations and paths of influence
| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 308.48 KB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Although there is a large body of research connecting emotion to eating behaviors, little is
known about the role of caregivers’ responses to children’s emotions in the context of child feeding.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the relation between caregivers’ emotional responsiveness
and feeding responsiveness. The mothers of 137 children between 2 and 6 years of age reported on
their responses to children’s negative emotions using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions
Scale and on their feeding practices using the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire. The
results showed that mothers’ supportive emotion responses (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused,
and expressive encouragement reactions) tend to be positively associated with responsive feeding
practices (e.g., encouraging, modelling, and teaching healthy food-related behaviors). Instead,
mothers’ unsupportive responses (e.g., distress, punitive and minimization reactions) tend to be
positively associated with nonresponsive feeding practices (e.g., food as reward or to regulate
emotions, and pressure to eat) and negatively associated with responsive feeding practices. Our
results suggest that emotional and feeding responsiveness may be intertwined and that differences
in parent’s emotional responsiveness may translate into differences in their feeding styles, setting the
stage for parents’ use of positive vs. negative feeding practices.
Description
Keywords
Parental responsiveness Emotion regulation Feeding practices
Citation
Fernandes, C.,Santos, A. F. , Fernandes, M., Santos, A. J. &, Bost, K. Verissimo, M.(2021). Caregivers’ perceived emotional and feeding responsiveness toward preschool children: Associations and paths of influence. Nutrients, 13(4), 1334-1345https://doi.org/10.3390/ nu13041334
Publisher
MDPI Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute