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Prematurity and Maladaptive Mealtime Dynamics: the Roles of Maternal Emotional Distress, Eating-Related Cognitions, and Mind-Mindedness

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Abstract

Premature birth and maternal emotional distress constitute risk factors for feeding disorders. This study examined the roles of maternal cognitions in the link between prematurity, emotional distress and mother-infant maladaptive mealtime dynamics in a sample of 134 families (70 preterm, low medical risk; 64 full-term) followed longitudinally. Specifically, maternal cognitions related to eating and health (perception of child vulnerability and concerns about child’s eating) and understanding of mental states (interactional mind-mindedness) were considered. A multiple-mediators model was tested, controlling for infants’ weight and breastfeeding history. Although prematurity did not directly predict mealtime dynamics, multiple-mediation analyses revealed indirect pathways: mothers of preterm newborns reported higher emotional distress, which subsequently predicted perception of child vulnerability and concerns about child’s eating at 6-months; perception of child vulnerability predicted more conflictual mealtime dynamics, whereas concern about child’s eating predicted less reciprocal mealtime dynamics at 12-months. Mind-mindedness at 6-months predicted more reciprocal and less conflictual mealtime dynamics but did not act as a mediator. Implications for understanding pathways from prematurity to feeding disorders are discussed.

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Notes

  1. We also examined these models with mean emotional distress at 6 and 12 months as a serial mediator between emotional distress at birth and maternal cognitions variables at 6 months. This model revealed the same pathways reported in the main text, with the inclusion of emotional distress at 6 and 12 months as an additional mediator. Because this finding does not alter the theoretical meaning of these pathways, we report the more parsimonious model in the main text.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Israel Foundations Trustees (Grant 87200511).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Tal Yatziv

  2. Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel

    Tal Yatziv, Noa Gueron-Sela & Naama Atzaba-Poria

  3. Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel

    Tal Yatziv & Noa Gueron-Sela

  4. Soroka University Medical Center and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel

    Gal Meiri & Kyla Marks

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  1. Tal Yatziv
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Yatziv, T., Gueron-Sela, N., Meiri, G. et al. Prematurity and Maladaptive Mealtime Dynamics: the Roles of Maternal Emotional Distress, Eating-Related Cognitions, and Mind-Mindedness. J Abnorm Child Psychol 48, 1089–1103 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00639-2

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