The Influence of Early Childhood Parental Feeding Behaviors on Self-Regulation & Food Decision-Making in Young Adults

This study used data from a diverse set of undergraduates from the Claremont Colleges to examine the relationship between cognitive control (impulsivity and response inhibition) and self-regulatory ability as an indicator of sustained early childhood parental feeding behaviors in adulthood. In addition, the current study explored if early childhood parental feeding behaviors predicted food decision-making in adulthood as a result of perceived taste and nutritional value of food items. It was hypothesized that heightened impulsivity and impaired response inhibition as measures of cognitive control would correlate to poorer self-regulation, in turn reflecting a particular mode of early childhood parental feeding behaviors; it was then postulated that cognitive control, serving as a proxy for early childhood parental feeding behaviors, would predict future dietary behavior in young adults. While response inhibition was not significantly associated with self-regulatory ability, individuals’ degree of impulsivity did predict their ability to self-regulate—with higher impulsiveness and lower self-regulation exhibiting the strongest association. Exploratory analyses found that heightened impulsivity and impaired response inhibition did not relate to either unhealthy or healthy perceived taste and nutritional value for all food items except one, which indicated that early childhood parental feeding behaviors did not influence dietary assessments and decision-making in young adults. These findings provide insight into the influence of early childhood parental feeding behaviors on the development of self-regulation and suggest that with more refined measures, this relationship may have possible implications on how young adults approach food choice and eating behaviors