Father–child and mother–child interaction in families with a child feeding disorder: The role of paternal involvement

Abstract

To date, research about feeding disorder (FD) has focused almost exclusively on the mother-child dyad, ignoring fathers' roles. The current study investigated father-child interactions with children having FD. The sample consisted of 67 children (1-3 years old) and their mothers and fathers. Thirty-four children, diagnosed with a nonorganic-based FD (FD group) and 33 children without an FD (control group) were matched for age, gender, birth order, and maternal education. Data were collected during home visits. Mothers were interviewed about their and the father's involvement in childcare. In addition, mother-child and father-child interactions were videotaped during play and feeding. Both mothers and fathers from the FD group experienced less positive parent-child interactions than did parents in the control group. Furthermore, mothers in the FD group reported greater maternal versus paternal childcare involvement than did control group mothers. Finally, FD group mothers exhibited more parental sensitivity than did fathers during feeing interactions; however, this difference was observed only when coupled with low paternal involvement. In families where fathers were highly involved, no difference was evident in paternal and maternal sensitivity. These findings highlight the importance of fathers' involvement, especially in families with children exhibiting an FD.

Mother–child and Father–child Play Interaction: The Importance of Parental Playfulness as a Moderator of the Links Between Parental Behavior and Child Negativity

“…The similarity between paternal and maternal playfulness levels is in line with previous studies, showing similarities between other parental behaviors during play. For example, it has been found that fathers and mothers did not vary in the levels of sensitivity, intrusiveness, hostility (Atzaba‐Poria et al, ; John et al., ), and use of language (Menashe et al, ) during play interaction.…”

“…Paternal occupation was characterized primarily by partly skilled (44%), skilled (30%), and managerial and technical occupations (23%) (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, ). Our sample was taken from a feeding and sleeping problem study (Atzaba‐Poria et al, ); about half of the children had some feeding or sleeping problems, but otherwise were healthy. The other half of the children had no difficulties.…”

“…To reduce intercoder bias, different coders coded the parental behavior (EAS), playfulness (PPS), and child negativity (PARCHISY) interactions. The PARCHISY and the EAS coding systems have been used extensively in Israel in the Hebrew language (e.g., Atzaba‐Poria et al, ; Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagie, & Koren‐Karie, ).The PPS was originally developed in Hebrew (Atzaba‐Poria, Cabrera, Menashe, & Karberg, ). To test interrater reliability, for each coding scale, three distinct coders coded 20% of the videotaped interactions, randomly selected.…”

Mary Ainsworth’s legacy: a systematic review of observational instruments measuring parental sensitivity

“…It has been applied to mothers as well as fathers (e.g., Atzaba-Poria et al, 2010;Lovas, 2005), generally in free-play settings. The 4th edition of the EA scales (Biringen, 2008) is still relatively new and studies using this edition are only just starting to be published (e.g., Flykt et al, 2012).…”

The Described Experience of Primary Caregivers of Children With Mental Health Needs

“…This is not surprising because mothers are usually the primary care provider for their children with or without mental health needs (Atzaba-Poria et al, 2010;Mehta & Richards, 2002;Konstantareas & Homatidis, 1992). The study sample included only four ethnic minority participants, thereby limiting specific information about the experiences of primary caregivers who were from a minority group.…”