Maternal feeding stress during mealtimes as a mediator between child food fussiness and maladpative feeding behaviors among mothers of preschoolers

Appetite. 2021 May 21:105322. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105322. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTParenting stress has been linked to maladaptive feeding behaviors and adverse child outcomes. Maternal stress that is specific to child feeding during mealtimes has not been previously explored. We sought to examine our hypothesis that maternal feeding stress during mealtimes (MFS-mealtimes) mediates the association of child food fussiness and concern about child's diet with maladaptive feeding behaviors. Mothers (n=100) were recruited through different preschoolers around the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Participants completed an online questionnaire, which included a newly developed MFS-mealtimes index (Cronbach's α = 0.89), the Child Feeding Questionnaire- Arabic (CFQ-A), and the child food fussiness scale. We conducted path analysis to test our hypothesis, and we used bivariate analyses to inform our path model. Mean child age was 4.76 years (SD= 0.62), and 62% of children were female. Mean maternal age was 33.9 years (SD= 5.83). Results from path analysis showed that concern about child's diet and child food fussiness were each associated with higher MFS-mealtimes (B= 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI)= 0.01, 0.20, p < 0.05, and B= 0.29, 95% CI= 0.05, 0.53, p < 0.01, respectively). MFS-mealtimes was in turn associated with higher pressure to eat (B = 0.45, 95% CI= 0.18, 0.71, p < 0.05). Goodness of fit indices showed good model fit (p >X2= 0.83, SRMR= 0.005, and CF...
Source: Appetite - Category: Nutrition Authors: Source Type: research