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Observing the mother-infant feeding interaction
journal contribution
posted on 2014-01-01, 00:00 authored by A Morawska, Rachel LawsRachel Laws, N Moretto, L DanielsEarly parenting is critical to effective attachment and a range of positive developmental outcomes for children. Feeding is a key task of early parenting and increasing evidence indicates that early feeding practices are important for the development of self-regulation of intake and food preferences which in turn are predictors of later obesity risk. However, relatively little is known about the mother–infant interaction at the transition to solids among typically developing children. This study aimed to describe parenting strategies used by mothers at the transition from milk feeding to solid food. Twenty mother–infant dyads were video-taped during a feeding interaction and data were analysed to describe maternal use of parenting strategies. It was predicted that positive feeding strategies would be correlated with lower levels of infant food refusal (IFR), higher maternal sensitivity, and better overall parenting scores. The opposite was predicted for negative feeding strategies. It was found that positive strategy use and general parenting scores were significantly correlated in the predicted direction, however maternal instruction, aversive contact, and ineffective strategy use were significantly correlated with and predictive of IFR. Additionally, it was hypothesised that maternal strategy use would deteriorate towards the end of the interaction, and this hypothesis was partially supported: significantly more negative strategy use was observed in the last third of the interaction, whilst positive strategy use remained consistent through the feeding interaction. The findings have important implications for early feeding parent education and intervention programmes.
History
Journal
Early child development and careVolume
184Issue
4Pagination
522 - 536Publisher
Taylor & FrancisLocation
Abingdon, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
0300-4430eISSN
1476-8275Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2013, Taylor & FrancisUsage metrics
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