Does child weight influence how mothers report their feeding practices?

Objectives. The present study aimed to ascertain whether parental reports of their feeding practices are associated with independent observations of these behaviours, and whether the reliability of maternal report depends upon the child's weight. Methods. A total of 56 mothers and their children ate a lunch to satiety which was videotaped and coded for maternal use of control during feeding. Mothers also completed questionnaires about their feeding practices and children were weighed and measured. Results. Maternal reports of controlling feeding practices were poorly related to independent observations of these behaviours in the laboratory. However, there was a significant interaction between child BMI z score and observed pressure to eat in predicting maternally reported pressure to eat. There was also a significant interaction between child BMI z score and observed maternal restriction with food in predicting maternally reported restriction. When decomposed, these interactions suggested that only mothers of relatively underweight children were accurate at reporting their use of pressure to eat when compared to independent observations. For mothers of relatively overweight children there was a significant negative relationship between observed and reported restriction over food. Conclusions. Overall there was poor correspondence between maternal reports and independent observations of the use of controlling feeding practices. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to ascertain whether parents who are inaccurate at reporting their use of these feeding practices are unaware that they are using controlling feeding practices or whether they are responding in socially desirable ways to questionnaires assessing their feeding behaviour. © 2011 Informa Healthcare

A structural modeling approach to the understanding of parenting stress

Tested and cross-validated a multidimensional model of predictors of parenting stress on data from a population-based sample of Swedish mothers (N = 1, 081) with children ages 6 months to 3 years. The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire study,focusi</p

Attachment and social functioning: A longitudinal study from infancy to middle childhood

A longitudinal sample of 96 children was followed from 15 months of age to 8-9 years. Attachment relationships were studied in infancy with the Strange Situation and at school age with the separation anxiety Test. Social functioning was studied at school</p

Early child health in Lahore, Pakistan: III. Maternal and family situation

The family situation for mothers, in three areas differing in degree of urbanization and an upper middle class control group, in Lahore, Pakistan was described. Area differences in socio-economic, family composition, and housing and sanitary conditions were investigated. Data from a longitudinal sample (n= 1476 newborns) were compared with data from a cross-sectional population survey (n = 2998 families). Risk factors for child mortality and morbidity were common in the village and periurban slum area; conditions were somewhat better in the urban slum community. The sample was concluded to be representative of the population in the three areas and also for Pakistan in general. Two indices for cross-study comparisons were proposed, one for socio-economic background and the other for housing standard. The two indices were shown to be related to maternal weight for height at 9 months of pregnancy in the urban slum area; the socio-economic level was also functionally related to the weight for height measure in the village. The lower socio-economic and housing standard level, the lower was the mothers' relative weight just before childbirth. The findings were discussed in terms of risk factors for infant mortality, morbidity and psychological development.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Mental disease postpartum - Social competence, work efficiency and behaviour problems in eight-year-old children

In a longitudinal study, children of 14 mentally ill women, admitted to hospital within six months after delivery, were compared to children of 23 women who had been somatically ill postpartum, and to a matched sample of children of 22 healthy women. Also</p