Attachment, feeling, and feeding: Associations between caregivers' attachment, emotional and feeding responsiveness, and Children's food consumption.

A substantial body of literature links attachment to childhood obesity. However, research on the mechanisms underlying this association is scarce. The present study aimed to test four serial indirect path models to examine whether caregivers' insecure attachment is related to children's food consumption, through its influence on emotional and feeding responsiveness.

Reconciling opposing effects of emotion on relational memory: Behavioral, eye-tracking, and brain imaging investigations.

The effects of emotion on memory are wide-ranging and powerful, but they are not uniform. Although there is agreement that emotion enhances memory for individual items, how it influences memory for the associated contextual details (relational memory, RM) remains debated. The prevalent view suggests that emotion impairs RM, but there is also evidence that emotion enhances RM.

Biopsychosocial pathways model of early childhood appetite self-regulation: Temperament as a key to modulation of interactions among systems.

The widespread discrimination against individuals with obesity often stems from a simplistic perception of obesity as a mere consequence of personal choices of overeating and insufficient physical activity. This reductionist perception fails to acknowledge the complexity of the epidemic of obesity, which extends beyond diet and exercise decisions. The concept of appetite self-regulation (ASR) has been explored as a crucial element in identifying obesogenic behavioral approaches to food.

Temperament and emotional overeating: the mediating role of caregiver response to children's negative emotions.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of caregiver responses to a child's negative emotions on the associations between infant temperament and emotional overeating in preschool children.

Method: A sample of 358 children and their caregivers enrolled in the STRONG Kids 2 (SK2) birth cohort study ( = 468) provided data for this analysis. Caregivers completed questionnaires assessing child temperament at 3 months, caregiver response to negative emotions at 18 months, and child emotional overeating at 36 months.

Self-regulation linking the quality of early parent-child relationship to adolescents' obesity risk and food consumption.

Background: The quality of parent-child relationships has been examined as a contributor to children's healthy behaviours and weight outcomes, but the mechanisms accounting for associations remain understudied.

Objective: This study examined whether the quality of early parent-child relationship is associated with adolescent obesity risk and whether self-regulation and (un)healthful food consumption mediate these associations.

Methods: Employing structural equation modelling, two theory-driven models were examined using a large sample (N = 1237) drawn from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

Adherence to Screen Time and Physical Activity Guidelines is Associated with Executive Function in US Toddlers Participating in the STRONG Kids 2 Birth Cohort Study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that healthy weight status and adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for diet and physical activity would extend to greater executive function (EF) at age 24 months.

Study Design: Parents of 24-month-old children from the STRONG Kids 2 cohort study (n = 352) completed the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function for Preschoolers (BRIEF-P) and reported physical activities, diet, and screen time. Toddlers met AAP guidelines if they consumed at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, were physically active, refrained from sugar-sweetened beverages, and limited daily screen time to <60 minutes.

Infant temperament and mealtime distractions as predictors of preschool Children's bite speed during family mealtime.

Eating behaviors are shaped at an early age, persist into adulthood, and are implicated in the development of physical health outcomes, including obesity. Faster bite speed has been identified as an obesogenic eating behavior, prompting researchers to examine child and family factors associated with children's variability in bite speed. Child temperament, involving phenotypes of reactivity and regulation, and distractions in family food contexts are fruitful areas of investigation, but few studies have examined the interplay among these factors and their associations with bite speed.

Influences of Child Temperament and Household Chaos on Preschoolers' Emotional Eating.

Emotional eating has been linked to child temperament and family environment factors, such as household chaos. However, few studies have examined how child and home characteristics independently and together influence children's overeating and undereating in response to negative emotions. The current study examined associations among child temperament, household chaos, and emotional eating in children 18-24 months of age, and interaction effects were also tested.

Exploring parents' perspectives on feeding their young children: a qualitative study using photo-elicitation in Chile.

Objective: Childhood obesity is considered one of the most important public health problems around the world. Chile is currently one of the Latin American countries with a high prevalence of childhood obesity. Given that parents' food parenting practices shape their children's lifelong eating habits, addressing those practices is key to curbing later problems of obesity.

The Impact of Household Chaos and Dietary Intake on Executive Function in Young Children.

Children's executive functions (EFs) emerge over time and can be shaped by household environments and dietary intake. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how these factors influence EFs in children aged 18-24 months. This study tested a model exploring the relations between parent-reported dietary intake, household chaos, and child EF.

Relation between Attachment and Obesity in Preschool Years: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Increasing evidence suggests that attachment plays an important role in obesity. However, few studies examined this relationship in preschool children. This study aimed to systematically examine the empirical, peer-reviewed evidence regarding the relationship between attachment quality and obesity in the preschool years.

Early Child Care Experiences and Attachment Representations at Age 18 Years: Evidence from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

The role of early child care experiences on the development of the mother-child attachment relationship has been studied extensively. However, no prospective studies of early child care have addressed how these experiences might be reflected in the content of attachment representations during adolescence and beyond. The goal of this study was to estimate relatively precise associations between child care quality, child care quantity, and type of care in the first 54 months of life and the content of adolescents' attachment representations around age 18 years ( = 857; 51% female; 78% White, non-Hispanic; income-to-needs ratio = 4.

Caregivers' Perceived Emotional and Feeding Responsiveness toward Preschool Children: Associations and Paths of Influence.

Although there is a large body of research connecting emotion to eating behaviors, little is known about the role of caregivers' responses to children's emotions in the context of child feeding. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relation between caregivers' emotional responsiveness and feeding responsiveness. The mothers of 137 children between 2 and 6 years of age reported on their responses to children's negative emotions using the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale and on their feeding practices using the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire.

Bedtimes, bedtime routines, and children's sleep across the first 2 years of life.

Study Objectives: The first objective of this study was to determine whether establishing bedtime routines in the first year of life predicts better sleep outcomes (i.e. longer sleep duration, less nighttime waking, earlier bedtime, shorter sleep latency, fewer sleep problems) across the first 2 years of life.

Child attachment behavior as a moderator of the relation between feeding responsiveness and picky eating behavior.

Background: Picky eating (PE) behavior is common in early childhood, but persistent PE is associated with unhealthy development and caregiver-child stress during feeding. Identifying modifiable feeding and parent-child relationship factors that impact PE is important for decreasing risks associated with PE.

Objective: This study examined associations between caregiver Feeding Responsiveness (FR) and child PE behaviors using caregiver reports and observations of family mealtimes.

Does secure base script knowledge mediate associations between observed parental caregiving during childhood and adult romantic relationship quality and health?

Increasingly, attachment representations are being assessed via - the degree to which individuals show awareness of the temporal-causal schema that summarizes the basic features of seeking and receiving effective support from caregivers during times of need. Limited research has assessed the links between secure base script knowledge and aspects of adult functioning and the role that secure base script knowledge may play in accounting for associations between early caregiving quality and adulthood functioning. We used follow-up assessments of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development cohort ( = 585) to examine whether secure base script knowledge at age 18 years: (a) is associated with later romantic relationship quality, depressive symptoms, and body mass index (BMI) at age 26 years, and (b) mediates expected associations between the quality of maternal and paternal sensitivity across the first 15 years of life and age-26 outcomes.

The Impact of Focused Attention on Emotional Experience: A Functional MRI Investigation.

Emotional well-being depends on the ability to adaptively cope with various emotional challenges. Most studies have investigated the neural mechanisms of emotion regulation strategies deployed relatively later in the timing of processing that leads to full emotional experiences. However, less is known about strategies that are engaged in earlier stages of emotion processing, such as those involving attentional deployment.

Connections between Friendship Quality, Peer Competence, and Obesity in Early Childhood through Adolescence.

Research indicates that youths with overweight and obesity often face difficulties in peer relationships. The current research examined longitudinal associations between youths' peer competence (, successful interactions with peers), friendship quality (, disclosure, conflict resolution, and companionship with a best friend), and body mass index (BMI) z-score when they were 3 to 15 years of age. A subsample of 1292 majority White families from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) were included in the analyses.

The impact of focused attention on subsequent emotional recollection: A functional MRI investigation.

In his seminal works, Endel Tulving argued that functionally distinct memory systems give rise to subjective experiences of remembering and knowing (i.e., recollection- vs.

Household Chaos, Maternal Emotional Responsiveness, and Child Eating Behavior: A Moderation Analysis.

Objective: To address calls for a resilience-informed approach to understand the cause and prevention of childhood obesity, the current study aims to investigate the independent and interactive associations between household chaos, maternal emotional responsiveness, and eating behavior in early childhood.

Method: A sample of (n = 108) families of 18- to 24-month-olds completed self-report surveys and consented to home visits as part of the larger STRONG Kids 2 (N = 468) study. Videotapes of family mealtimes were collected during home visits and coded for observed maternal emotional responsiveness.

The STRONG Kids 2 Birth Cohort Study: A Cell-to-Society Approach to Dietary Habits and Weight Trajectories across the First 5 Years of Life.

Background: Dietary habits formed during the first 5 y of life portend lifelong eating patterns.

Objective: The Synergistic Theory Research Obesity and Nutrition Group (STRONG) Kids 2 birth cohort study aimed to examine multilevel predictors of weight trajectories and dietary habits including individual biology, child socioemotional and behavioral characteristics, family environment, and child care environment over the first 5 y of life. This report describes recruitment strategies, an overview of survey measures, and basic descriptive statistics of the cohort.

Associations between father availability, mealtime distractions and routines, and maternal feeding responsiveness: An observational study.

Responsive feeding and frequency of family mealtimes are related to healthier eating behaviors and weight outcomes in children and adolescents. Distractions at mealtimes are related to greater intake of unhealthy food and a less positive mealtime emotional climate. However, there is little understanding of the effects of routines and father availability on distractions at family meals, and there is limited research investigating the effects of distractions among all family members on maternal feeding practices in toddlerhood.

Longitudinal factor analysis of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire among parents of preschool-aged children.

Introduction: The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) assesses 12 specific parent feeding practices (Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007). However, the original 12-factor structure may not be consistent across age groups, and no studies have yet evaluated the factor structure of the CFPQ over time. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to evaluate the model fit of the original and alternative CFPQ factor structures at two time points in early childhood.

Predictors and Outcomes of Mealtime Emotional Climate in Families With Preschoolers.

Objective: Mealtime emotional climate (MEC) is related to parent feeding and mental health, and possibly to child food consumption. However, MEC has been inconsistently assessed with a variety of coding schemes and self-report instruments, and has not been examined longitudinally. This study aims to characterize MEC systematically using an observational, count-based coding scheme; identify whether parent feeding or mental health predict MEC; and examine whether MEC predicts child food consumption and weight.

Development and assessment of stressful life events subscales - A preliminary analysis.

Background: Stress affects people of all ages, genders, and cultures and is associated with physical and psychological complications. Stressful life events are an important research focus and a psychometrically valid measure could provide useful clinical information. The purpose of the study was to develop a reliable and valid measurement of stressful life events and to assess its reliability and validity using established measures of social support, stress, depression, anxiety and maternal and child health.