Mealtime Dynamics in Child Feeding Disorder: The Role of Child Temperament, Parental Sense of Competence, and Paternal Involvement

Objective We examined how child temperament, parental sense of competence, and paternal involvement predicted observed mealtime dynamics. Method 97 families of children with feeding disorder (FD), sleep problems (SP), and typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. Data were collected during home visits, where mother-child and father-child mealtime dynamics were videotaped and parents completed questionnaires. Results More mother-child and father-child conflict and control was observed during mealtimes in the FD than SP and TD groups. Among the FD group, maternal sense of competence was negatively correlated with mother-child conflict and control, and child temperament was linked to father-child conflict and control, but only for families in which fathers were highly involved. These correlations were not significant among the SP and TD groups. Conclusion Different patterns of results were seen for mothers and fathers and among the FD and control groups. Clinical implications for the treatment of FD are discussed.