Understanding and measuring parent use of food to soothe infant and toddler distress: A longitudinal study from 6 to 18 months of age

Stifter, Cynthia A.; Moding, Kameron J.

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2015.07.009

Cited by 51 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Our study is the first to examine the prospective relation between emotional feeding and emotional eating in school-aged children. In accordance with earlier research (Ashcroft et al, 2008;Stifter & Moding, 2015), the stability was relatively high in both outcomes. Even in the context of high stability, parental emotional feeding increased children's inclination to engage in emotional eating.…”

Section: The Bidirectional Relation Between Emotional Feeding and Emosupporting

confidence: 92%

Emotional Feeding and Emotional Eating: Reciprocal Processes and the Influence of Negative Affectivity

et al. 2017

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Emotional eating, that is, eating more in response to negative mood, is often seen in children. But the origins of emotional eating remain unclear. In a representative community sample of Norwegian 4-year-olds followed up at ages 6, 8, and 10 years (analysis sample: n = 801), one potential developmental pathway was examined: a reciprocal relation between parental emotional feeding and child emotional eating. The results revealed that higher levels of emotional feeding predicted higher levels of emotional eating and vice versa, adjusting for body mass index and initial levels of feeding and eating. Higher levels of temperamental negative affectivity (at age 4) increased the risk for future emotional eating and feeding.

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Section: The Bidirectional Relation Between Emotional Feeding and Emosupporting

confidence: 92%

Emotional Feeding and Emotional Eating: Reciprocal Processes and the Influence of Negative Affectivity

et al. 2017

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“…It is possible that a mother who poorly responds to her infant's distress may use more food to calm her infant, leading to increased weight and adiposity. This is in line with previous research indicating that mothers may use food to soothe temperamental infants (Anzman‐Frasca et al, ; Stifter and Moding, ; Stifter, Anzman‐Frasca, Birch, & Voegtline, 2011). However, as this relationship persisted even in the model with the maternal report of infant caloric intake, this explanation would require that mothers who handle their infant's distress poorly must also underreport infant food intake.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Maternal feeding behavior can be influenced by infant temperament as well, with mothers using food to soothe infants who are perceived to be high in temperamental negativity (Stifter et al, ). Use of food to soothe infants may be a pathway for maternal‐infant interaction to increase infant weight gain (Stifter and Moding, ). Infant behavior as well may influence maternal feeding habits, leading to an increase in weight, such as mothers responding to infant fussing/crying episodes with feeding (Anzman‐Frasca et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal‐infant interaction as an influence on infant adiposity

Holdsworth

Schell

2017

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives The aim of this research is to identify whether specific aspects of the early life psychosocial environment such as quality of home and maternal-infant interaction are associated with increased infant adiposity, in a disadvantaged population in the United States. Methods Data on 121 mother-infant pairs from the Albany Pregnancy and Infancy Lead Study (APILS) were analyzed using three multiple linear regression models with subscapular skinfold thickness (SST), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), and weight z-scores at 12 months of age as outcome variables. Maternal-infant interaction was indexed by the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scales (NCATS) and home environment quality was indexed by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). Results In models including infant birth weight, cigarette use in second trimester, infant caloric intake at 9-12 months, size at birth for gestational age, infant sex, and mother's pre-pregnancy BMI, specific subscales of NCATs predicted infant adiposity z-scores. Poorer mother's response to infant distress was associated with greater SST (β=-0.20, p=0.02), TST (β=-0.19, p=0.04), and weight (β=-0.14, p=0.05). Better maternal sensitivity to infant cues was associated with larger SST (β=0.25, p<0.01), while mother's poorer social-emotional growth fostering predicted greater SST (β=-0.23, p<0.01) and weight (β=-0.16, p=0.03). Better scores on HOME Organization of the Environment were associated with greater SST (β=0.34, p=0.02) and TST (β=0.33, p=0.04). Conclusions Emotionally relevant aspects of the maternal-infant interaction predicted infant adiposity, though in different directions. This indicates that the psychosocial environment, through maternal behavior, may influence infant adiposity. However, the general home environment was not consistently related to infant adiposity.

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“…Parents' use of food to soothe their child's distress (or “emotional feeding”) may result in overfeeding and limit opportunities for the child to build self‐soothing skills 11 . Use of food to soothe is associated with increased weight gain in infancy 12 and childhood, 13 and emotional overeating may play a role in this association 14 . Infants who exhibit greater temperamental negativity may elicit parents' use of food to soothe, and negative affect, which is broadly characterized by a child's tendency to express fear, sadness, anger, and discomfort, 15 may exacerbate the bidirectional, longitudinal association between parent use of food to soothe and child emotional overeating 16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a responsive parenting intervention on child emotional overeating is mediated by reduced maternal use of food to soothe: The INSIGHT RCT

et al. 2020

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Summary Background Child emotional overeating is a risk factor for obesity that is learned in the home environment. Parents' use of food to soothe child distress may contribute to the development of children's emotional overeating. Objectives To examine the effect of a responsive parenting (RP) intervention on mother‐reported child emotional overeating, and explore whether effects are mediated by mother‐reported use of food to soothe child distress. Methods The sample included primiparous mother‐infant dyads randomized to a RP intervention (n = 105) or home safety control group (n = 102). Nurses delivered RP guidance in four behavioral domains: sleeping, fussy, alert/calm, and drowsy. Mothers reported their use of food to soothe at age 18 months and child emotional overeating at age 30 months. Mediation was analyzed using the SAS PROCESS macro. Results RP intervention mothers reported less frequent use of food to soothe and perceived their child's emotional overeating as lower compared to the control group. Food to soothe mediated the RP intervention effect on child emotional overeating (mediation model: R2 = 0.13, P < .0001). Conclusions Children's emotional overeating may be modified through an early life RP intervention. Teaching parents alternative techniques to soothe child distress rather than feeding may curb emotional overeating development to reduce future obesity risk.

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Understanding and measuring parent use of food to soothe infant and toddler distress: A longitudinal study from 6 to 18 months of age

Cited by 51 publications

References 61 publications

Emotional Feeding and Emotional Eating: Reciprocal Processes and the Influence of Negative Affectivity

Emotional Feeding and Emotional Eating: Reciprocal Processes and the Influence of Negative Affectivity

Maternal‐infant interaction as an influence on infant adiposity

Effect of a responsive parenting intervention on child emotional overeating is mediated by reduced maternal use of food to soothe: The INSIGHT RCT

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