Maternal self-rated health and psychological distress predict early feeding difficulties: Results from the longitudinal study of Australian children.

Abstract

Drawing from the extended UNICEF model of children's eating and weight problems and growing empirical evidence, exposure to adversity may place mothers at increased risk for child feeding difficulties. The aim of the present study of a community sample of mothers was to examine whether maternal psychological distress, exposure to stressful events, and poor self-rated health in their child's first year of life were associated with breastfeeding duration, as well as concurrent and prospective feeding problems. Participants were 5107 Australian mother-child dyads from the infant cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Data for the present study was drawn from questionnaires completed by the mother at Wave 1 and Wave 2 (conducted 2 years apart). On average, at Wave 1, mothers and children (51% male) were aged 31 years and 9 months, respectively; while at Wave 2 their ages were 33 years and 34 months, respectively. Maternal psychological distress and poorer self-rated health were uniquely predictive of concurrent and prospective child feeding difficulties, while poorer self-rated health was also concurrently associated with a shorter duration of breastfeeding. These findings suggest that poorer maternal functioning poses a significant risk for early child feeding difficulties, and highlights the potential benefit of screening and early intervention for mothers experiencing emotional and physical health problems. Further research is needed that takes a broad view of maternal functioning, and examines reciprocal interactions between maternal and child characteristics in understanding the development of child feeding problems.