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Psychosocial concomitants of children's feeding disorders
K S Budd1, T E McGraw, R Farbisz
1Department of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago 60616.
Insights
Feeding disorders (FD) in children impact behavior, development, and family well-being. Understanding the cause of FD is crucial for tailored clinical services and improved outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Feeding disorders (FD) in children present complex challenges affecting development and family dynamics.
- Etiologies of FD are often categorized as organic or nonorganic, but mixed cases are common.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare behavior problems, child developmental skills, home environment, and parent emotional distress in children with feeding disorders of differing etiologies.
- To investigate the relationship between parent distress and child/family characteristics.
Main Methods:
- A study of 50 families with children aged 11-70 months with various feeding disorder (FD) etiologies.
- Assessment of child behavior problems, developmental skills, home environment, and parent emotional distress.
Main Results:
- Psychosocial functioning varied significantly across FD classifications.
- Children with nonorganic FD exhibited more behavior problems than those with solely organic FD.
- Children with primarily organic FD showed lower developmental skills and higher parental distress.
Conclusions:
- Clinical services are frequently necessary for families of children with feeding disorders, with needs varying by etiology.
- The prevalence of mixed organic and nonorganic FD highlights the need for more nuanced classification systems beyond a simple dichotomy.
Abstract:
Compared behavior problems, child developmental skills, home environment, and parent emotional distress for 50 families of children aged 11-70 months with differing etiologies of feeding disorders (FD). Results showed that psychosocial functioning differed across FD classifications. Children with nonorganic characteristics to FD had more behavior problems compared to those with only organic FD. Children with primarily or only organic FD displayed lower developmental skills and their parents had higher emotional distress than children with primarily nonorganic FD. High parent distress was associated with older children who had poor feeding skills, less positive disciplinary practices, and higher social status. The findings imply that clinical services to families often are warranted and that service needs vary depending on the nature of FD. Mixed organic and nonorganic FD occurred in the majority of children, which supports the need for more detailed classification than an organic-nonorganic dichotomy used in prior research.