The Relationship between Mother-Child Attachment and Eating Problems: The Mediating Role of Child's Self-Regulation in Eating and Parental Nutrition Care

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of child self-regulation in eating and parental nutrition care in the relationship between mother-child attachment and the child's eating problems. 248 mothers of 2-4 year-old children in the city of Shahrekord were selected through convenience sampling, and completed Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (Condon and Corkindale, 1998), Feeding Problem Questionnaire (Lewinsohn, 2005), Self-Regulation in Eating Questionnaire (Sherry and et al., 2004), and Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire (Jansen,Williams, Mallan, Nicholson & Daniels, 2014). This research was a descriptive correlational study using structural equation modeling. Findings showed that parental nutrition care can fully mediate the relationship between mother-child attachment and eating problems. The effect of mother-child attachment through parental nutrition care on reducing child eating problems was 0.26. Mother-child attachment also had a positive significant relationship with self-regulation of eating, but the mediating role of self-regulation of eating in the relationship between mother-child attachment and eating problems wasn’t verified. According to the results, education specialists should pay a great attention to the importance and necessity of mother-child relationship as a determinant factor in children’s mental health and prevention of behavioral and eating problems in children.