Maternal satisfaction with professional health care for excessive infant crying: does it meet maternal needs?

Education and Child Studie

Targeting food parenting practices to prevent early child obesity risk requires a different approach in families with a lower socioeconomic position

Education and Child Studie

Young children's cortisol levels at out-of-home child care: a meta-analysis

Education and Child StudiesEducation and Child Studie

Child care in times of COVID-19: predictors of distress in Dutch children and parents when re-entering center-based child care after a 2-month lockdown

As a consequence of the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) child care facilities all over the world were temporarily closed to minimize the spread of the virus. In Netherlands, the first closure lasted for almost 2 months. The return to the child care center after this significant interruption was expected to be challenging, because earlier studies demonstrated that transitions into child care can be stressful for both children and their parents. The current paper retrospectively examined the distress of Dutch children (aged 0-4) and their parents during the first 2 weeks after the reopening of child care centers, and what factors accounted for individual differences in distress. In total, 694 parents filled out an online questionnaire about stress during closure and distress after the reopening of child care centers. Furthermore, questions regarding several demographic variables and child care characteristics were included, as well as questionnaires measuring child temperament, parental separation anxiety, and parental perception of the child care quality. Results showed that younger children and children with parents scoring higher on separation anxiety experienced more distress after the reopening, as reported by parents. Furthermore, children were more distressed upon return when they attended the child care center for less hours per week after the reopening, experienced less stress during closure, and grew up in a one-parent family. With regard to parental distress after the reopening, we found that parents scoring higher on separation anxiety and fear of COVID-19 experienced more distress. Moreover, parents experiencing less stress during closure and mothers were more distressed when the child returned to the child care center. Finally, concurrent child and parental distress after reopening were positively related. The results of the current study may help professional caregivers to identify which children and parents benefit from extra support when children return to the child care center after an interruption. Especially the role that parental separation anxiety played in predicting both child and parental distress deserves attention. More research is required in order to study the underlying mechanisms of these associations and to design appropriate interventions.Education and Child Studie

Baby's first bites: association between observed maternal feeding behavior and infant vegetable intake and liking

Positive experiences with the introduction of solid food in infancy may lead to positive associations with feeding in both parent and infant. During this transitional period, parental feeding behavior and infant eating behavior might mutually reinforce each other. A feeding style that is found to be associated with positive child eating behavior, is sensitive feeding. In the present study we tested bidirectional prospective relations between mother and infant behavior in a cross-lagged model using observations of two feeds on two consecutive days on which the first bites of solid food were offered. The sample consisted of 246 first-time mothers and their infants, whose feeding interactions were videotaped during two home visits. Maternal sensitive feeding behavior (consisting of responsiveness to child feeding cues, general sensitivity and non-intrusiveness) and maternal positive and negative affect were coded. In addition, infant vegetable intake was weighed and vegetable liking was reported by mother. Results showed at least some stability of maternal feeding behavior and infant vegetable intake and liking from the first to the second feed. In addition, during the second feed maternal sensitive feeding and positive affect were associated with infant vegetable intake (r=.34 and r=.14) and liking (r=.33 and r=.39). These associations were mostly absent during the first feed. Finally, infant vegetable liking during the first feed positively predicted maternal sensitive feeding behavior during the second feed (β=.25), suggesting that the infant's first response might influence maternal behavior. Taken together, mother and infant seem more attuned during the second feed than during the first feed. Future studies might include multiple observations over a longer time period, or micro-coding. Such insights can inform prevention programs focusing on optimizing feeding experiences during the weaning period.Education and Child Studie

The baby's first bites RCT: evaluating a vegetable-exposure and a sensitive-feeding intervention in terms of child health outcomes and maternal feeding behavior during toddlerhood

Education and Child Studie

A psychosocial perspective on pediatric functional abdominal pain: risk factors and treatment

Shelley van der Veek onderzocht het effect van cognitieve gedragstherapie (CGT) bij kinderen met lichamelijk onverklaarde buikpijn. Honderdvier kinderen bezochten ofwel zes maal een psycholoog, ofwel zes maal een arts. Beide behandelingen bleken effectief. Een jaar na afloop van de behandeling leidde CGT bij 60 procent van de kinderen tot een afname van de buikpijn; bij reguliere medische zorg was dat 56 procent. De vraag is welke aspecten van beide behandelingen nu precies hebben geleid tot deze verandering. Waarschijnlijk kan de verbetering voor een deel op het conto worden geschreven van specifieke factoren, en voor een deel aan de goede band met de zorgverlener

Targeting food parenting practices to prevent early child obesity risk requires a different approach in families with a lower socioeconomic position

Education and Child Studie

The relation between family meals and health of infants and toddlers: A review

Development Psychopathology in context: famil

Maternal feeding practices, health cognitions, and children's eating styles and weight status

Development Psychopathology in context: famil