Zeyrek İbrahim, Güney Esra, Özaslan Ahmet, Dikmen Asiye Uğraş
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Memorial Diyarbakır Hospital, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Gazi University Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey.
Brain Behav. 2025 Aug;15(8):e70758. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70758.
To explore the relationship between children's eating behaviors, parental feeding behaviors, and child temperament among Turkish preschoolers aged 3-6 years.
A cross-sectional survey study was conducted between September 2021 and January 2022. Participants included 203 parents of preschool-aged children (aged 3-6 years) attending nursery and kindergartens, as well as those seeking help from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Analyses were performed utilizing IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0. Categorical variables are summarized in tables, showing counts and percentages in the descriptive statistics section. The association between continuous variables was assessed through Spearman correlation analysis. In this study, a significance level of p < 0.05 was established.
Emotional feeding was positively associated with emotional overeating and a desire to drink in children (r = 0.316, p < 0.01; r = 0.266, p < 0.01). Emotional overeating correlated negatively with instrumental feeding (r = -0.158, p < 0.05) but positively with encouragement feeding (r = 0.215, p < 0.01). The temperamental trait of surgency was positively associated with the desire to drink (r = 0.177, p < 0.05) and satiety responsiveness (r = 0.226, p < 0.01). Negative affect correlated negatively with enjoyment of food (r = -0.255, p < 0.01) and food fussiness (r = -0.225, p < 0.01) but positively with satiety responsiveness (r = 0.347, p < 0.01) and slowness in eating (r = 0.282, p < 0.01). Effortful control exhibited negative associations with emotional overeating (r = -0.207, p < 0.01) and the desire to drink (r = -0.141, p < 0.05).
This study identifies significant associations between specific parental feeding behaviors and children's eating habits, along with the influence of child temperament traits on these behaviors. Key findings highlight the positive relationship between emotional feeding and children's emotional overeating, along with the significant negative impacts of effortful control on emotional overeating and the desire to drink. Other noteworthy results include the strong negative association between negative affect and enjoyment of food, as well as its positive correlation with satiety responsiveness and slowness in eating. These results suggest that both parental feeding strategies and individual temperamental traits significantly influence preschoolers' eating behaviors. Interventions tailored to enhance parental feeding styles while considering children's temperaments may promote healthier eating practices in young children.
探讨3至6岁土耳其学龄前儿童的饮食行为、父母喂养行为和儿童气质之间的关系。
于2021年9月至2022年1月进行了一项横断面调查研究。参与者包括203名就读于托儿所和幼儿园的学龄前儿童（3至6岁）的家长，以及那些向儿童与青少年精神病学部门寻求帮助的家长。使用IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0版本进行分析。分类变量在表格中进行汇总，在描述性统计部分显示计数和百分比。通过Spearman相关性分析评估连续变量之间的关联。在本研究中，设定显著性水平为p < 0.05。
情感喂养与儿童的情绪化暴饮暴食和饮水欲望呈正相关（r = 0.316，p < 0.01；r = 0.266，p < 0.01）。情绪化暴饮暴食与工具性喂养呈负相关（r = -0.158，p < 0.05），但与鼓励性喂养呈正相关（r = 0.215，p < 0.01）。外向性气质特质与饮水欲望（r = 0.177，p < 0.05）和饱腹感反应性（r = 0.226，p < 0.01）呈正相关。消极情绪与对食物的享受（r = -0.255，p < 0.01）和挑食（r = -0.225，p < 0.01）呈负相关，但与饱腹感反应性（r = 0.347，p < 0.01）和进食缓慢（r = 0.282，p < 0.01）呈正相关。努力控制与情绪化暴饮暴食（r = -0.207，p < 0.01）和饮水欲望（r = -0.141，p < 0.05）呈负相关。
本研究确定了特定父母喂养行为与儿童饮食习惯之间的显著关联，以及儿童气质特质对这些行为的影响。主要发现突出了情感喂养与儿童情绪化暴饮暴食之间的正相关，以及努力控制对情绪化暴饮暴食和饮水欲望的显著负面影响。其他值得注意的结果包括消极情绪与对食物的享受之间的强烈负相关，以及其与饱腹感反应性和进食缓慢的正相关。这些结果表明，父母的喂养策略和个体气质特质都对学龄前儿童的饮食行为有显著影响。在考虑儿童气质的同时，量身定制干预措施以改善父母的喂养方式，可能会促进幼儿更健康的饮食习惯。
