Maternal cognitions, psychopathologic symptoms, and infant temperament as predictors of early infant feeding problems: a longitudinal study.
OBJECTIVE
The current study examined the contribution of prenatal and postnatal maternal core beliefs, self-esteem, psychopathologic symptoms, and postnatal infant temperament to the prediction of infant feeding difficulties.


METHODS
Ninety-nine women completed questionnaires assessing their core beliefs, psychopathology, and self-esteem during pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. At 6 months, mothers also rated their infant's temperament and feeding, and were ob-served feeding their infants.


RESULTS
Maternal reports of child feeding difficulties were predicted by higher levels of emotional deprivation and entitlement core beliefs and lower levels of self-sacrifice and enmeshment core beliefs during pregnancy. Postnatal social isolation core beliefs, lower maternal self-esteem, and more difficult infant temperament added significantly to the variance explained by prenatal factors. Maternal core beliefs, self-esteem, psychopathology, and infant temperament failed to significantly predict independent observations of child food refusal.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal cognitions are implicated in the development of maternal reports of feeding difficulty.
Farrow
Claire
C
School of Psychology, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Keele University, Straffordshire, UK. c.v.farrow@psy.keele.ac.uk
Blissett
Jackie
J
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003469:Culture; D019959:Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011599:Psychopathology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013694:Temperament; D014741:Video Recording