Influence of maternal reflective functioning on mothers' and children's weight: A follow-up study

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. A total of 352 caregivers of preschool children reported on their attachment orientation, emotional responses to their children's distress, feeding practices, and their children's food consumption. Results showed that caregivers with higher levels of attachment avoidance and anxiety were more likely to use unsupportive emotional responses to children's distress, which predicted the increased use of unresponsive feeding practices, and consequently children's higher sugary and fatty/salty food consumption. Higher levels of attachment avoidance were also associated with children's lower fruit and vegetable consumption through lower use of supportive emotional responses and responsive feeding practices, while higher levels of attachment anxiety were associated with children's lower fruit and vegetable consumption only by lower use of responsive feeding practices. These findings suggest that the influence of insecure attachment on caregivers' emotion regulation may contribute to the use of specific feeding practices that, in turn, affect children's food intake and may have implications for obesity risk.

Parental Reflective Capacities: A Scoping Review of Mindful Parenting and Parental Reflective Functioning

Objectives

Two key parental reflective capacities-mindful parenting (MP) and parental reflective functioning (PRF) - have been shown to promote healthy parent-child relationships through parents' increased sensitivity and responsiveness to their children's needs in spite of parenting stressors. Despite the theoretical overlap between these two constructs, researchers have continued to examine them independently. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to review the overlapping and distinctive outcomes and correlates in the empirical MP and PRF literatures.

Method

A comprehensive literature search across the MP and PRF literature for studies published from 2005 through early 2020 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) was conducted.

Results

A review of 301 articles (n = 180 MP and n = 121 PRF) revealed overlapping study outcomes and correlates, including improvement in parent and child well-being, parenting behaviors, and attachment. Both MP and PRF literatures suggest MP and PRF are amenable to intervention-induced changes, although mostly documented in White mothers, which results may not be generalizable to diverse populations.

Conclusions

Researchers should consider the impact MP and PRF have on positive family relationships. Results suggest that scholars should consider investigating and intervening on MP and PRF simultaneously. Specifically, results identified MP and PRF convergent associations and perhaps synergistic impacts on positive parenting behaviors. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Preregistration

This review was not preregistered.

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. Using established guidelines, relevant peer-reviewed literature published between 2000 and July 2021 was searched through EBSCO. This yielded a total of 1124 records for review. Established inclusion criteria comprised: empirical studies published in peer-review journals; include at least one anthropometric measure and/or food consumption measure. Exclusion criteria comprised: attachment measures not following Bowlby-Ainsworth conceptualization of the construct; children in institutionalized settings; context of severe mental illness, documented substance use disorders, or eating disorders; include only a measure of the psychological aspects of eating; intervention programs. After exclusions, eight studies with a total of 9225 participants met the inclusion criteria. Results support the role of attachment in weight-related outcomes, suggesting that considering attachment in the risk of obesity could contribute to the elaboration of effective prevention and intervention programs. Limitations included the small number of studies, predominately cross-sectional designs, the diversity of methodologies, most samples not including fathers, and lack of evidence about the developmental mechanisms underlying the association between attachment and obesity. More evidence is needed to determine how attachment and obesity are linked, and the potential underlying mechanisms accounting for this relationship.