Maternal Characteristics and Social Risk Factors Linked to Nonresponsive Feeding Styles in Early Childhood Within a Diverse Sample.

OBJECTIVE

To determine how maternal characteristics vs maternal social risk factors influence the practice of nonresponsive feeding styles among socioeconomically and racially diverse samples.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred and seven mothers of infants aged 9-24 months.

VARIABLES MEASURED: The Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, assessing responsive, indulgent, laissez-faire, pressuring, and restrictive styles, and socioeconomic and food security questionnaires to measure social risk factors.

ANALYSES: Hierarchical regression models assessed the contributions of maternal characteristics (step 1: prepregnancy body mass index [BMI], breastfeeding duration, and age) and social risk factors (step 2: employment status, marital status, minority status, education, poverty, and food insecurity).

RESULTS

Higher maternal prepregnancy BMI and younger age were significantly associated with greater indulgent (BMI: β = 0.31, P = 0.003; age: β = -0.31, P = 0.002) and laissez-faire (BMI: β = 0.21, P = 0.05; age: β = -0.31, P = 0.003) feeding styles. Longer breastfeeding duration (β = -0.23, P = 0.04) and older age (β = -0.24, P = 0.02) were associated with lower use of pressuring feeding styles. After accounting for maternal characteristics, social risk factors, including poverty (β = 0.28, P = 0.04) and employment status (β = -0.28, P = 0.006), significantly predicted greater use of pressuring feeding styles.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal characteristics and social risk factors influence the use of nonresponsive feeding styles during infancy. Findings highlight the need for tailored interventions addressing both individual maternal factors and broader socioeconomic conditions.