Maternal stress and problem-solving skills in a sample of children with nonorganic feeding disorders

摘要

This study compared the problem-solving strategies among 20 mothers whose infants were diagnosed with a feeding disorder against 20 matched controls. The mothers from the two groups were matched for age and level of education. All mothers completed two questionnaires: the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale and the Parenting Stress Index (R.R. Abidin, 1990). To measure maternal problem-solving skill, the Parent Means-End Problem-Solving Instrument (D.M. Bryant & B.H. Wasik, 1994) was administered. As expected, statistically significant differences were related to the number and frequency of feeding problems reported and difficulties with mealtime management. Furthermore, mothers of children with a diagnosed feeding disorder demonstrated fewer problem-solving skills and made use of more "high-control solutions" (e.g., forcing the child to comply or punishing the child). In contrast, parents of children without feeding disorders preferred to implement more indirect problem-solving strategies (e.g., planning to remove the child from the situation). Mounting evidence has suggested that difficulties in parenting a child with a diagnosed nonorganic feeding disorder stem from both child- and parent-related factors. The current study provides tentative early evidence for the role of maternal high-controlling problem-solving strategies in a small sample of children diagnosed with this disorder.