Infant Food Responsiveness in the Context of Temperament and Mothers' Use of Food to Soothe

Abstract

Parents' use of food to soothe an infants' non-hunger related distress may impair an infants' development of appetite self-regulation. Parents tend to use food to soothe if their infant has more ‘difficult' temperamental tendencies. However, the role of infant appetite in this association is unclear. This study investigates the moderating effect of infant food responsiveness on cross-sectional and prospective associations between infant temperament and mothers' use of food to soothe. Mothers (n = 200) from low-income households reported their infants' temperament (i.e., surgency, negative affect and regulation) and food responsiveness at age 4 months, and their use of food to soothe at age 4 and 6 months. Temperament × food responsiveness interactions on mothers' use of food to soothe were examined using general linear models, adjusting for covariates. Cross-sectional associations showed that mothers used more food to soothe at 4 months for infants who were lower in negative affect and higher in food responsiveness (negative affect × food responsiveness interaction: p = 0.03). Prospective associations showed that mothers used more food to soothe at 6 months for infants who were lower in regulation and higher in food responsiveness (infant regulation × food responsiveness interaction: p = 0.009). Other interactions were not significant. Infant food responsiveness was consistently associated with mothers' use of food to soothe, independent of some temperamental dimensions. The findings highlight the salience of infant food responsiveness, both independent of and in association with temperament, on mothers' use of food to soothe.

Bidirectional associations between maternal controlling feeding and food responsiveness during infancy

“…Specifically, greater use of situational food to soothe was marginally associated with increases in food responsiveness from 2 to 6 months and 6 to 14 months. These findings build on previous research showing cross-sectional associations between the use of food to soothe and infant food responsiveness in infancy (37,44) and one prospective study among preschool-age children showing a parent-driven effect (30). Our results are suggestive of a parent-driven effect of food to soothe on food responsiveness during infancy, particularly when food to soothe is used in situations (e.g., attending to another person, in the doctor's waiting room) in which parents may perceive that they do not have the ability or time to engage in alternative soothing strategies such as shushing or rocking their baby.…”

“…Frontiers in Public Health factors (e.g., poverty status). Harris and colleagues, for example, found that the association between food responsiveness and the use of food to soothe depended on levels of negative affect and regulation (37), two dimensions of infant temperament that have been independently linked to food to soothe (15,49).…”

“…Future studies can extend this work by examining whether the tested associations depend on other child characteristics (e.g., temperament), maternal behaviors (e.g., feeding mode) or broader home environment factors (e.g., poverty status). Harris and colleagues, for example, found that the association between food responsiveness and the use of food to soothe depended on levels of negative affect and regulation ( 37 ), two dimensions of infant temperament that have been independently linked to food to soothe ( 15 , 49 ).…”

“…The 6-item food responsiveness subscale from the Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) ( 1 ) was used to assess infant food responsiveness at each postnatal wave. The BEBQ, although originally validated as a retrospective measure of infant appetite focused on the period of exclusive milk feeding (breast or bottle) ( 1 ), is commonly used to evaluate infant appetite across the 1st year ( 4 , 37 , 38 ). Mothers rated the extent to which their infant exhibited behaviors that reflect increased feeding demandingness and hunger (“My baby frequently wants more milk than I have given him/her”; “If given the chance, my baby would always be feeding”) on a 5-point scale (never to always), with higher scores indicating higher infant food responsiveness.…”

Temperament and emotional overeating: the mediating role of caregiver response to children’s negative emotions

“…As one strategy caregivers may employ to regulate their children's distress, feeding practices are subject to be influenced by an individual child's characteristics (Bergmeier et al, 2014). For instance, findings suggest that parents of children with reactive temperaments and high food responsiveness are more likely to use food to help their child cope with distress (Harris et al, 2022). In addition, higher negative affectivity at 4 years was shown to predict greater emotional feeding and child EOE (Steinsbekk et al, 2018).…”