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.
Keywords: children; eating and feeding disorders; fatherhood; parenting.
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