Related Experiment Videos
Disturbances of affect expression in failure-to-thrive
H J Polan1, A Leon, M D Kaplan
1Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY.
Insights
Children with failure-to-thrive exhibit fewer positive emotions and more negative emotions, especially during feeding. Malnutrition severity, not organic factors, impacts negative affect in these children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Child Psychiatry
Background:
- Failure-to-thrive (FTT) is a complex condition affecting child development.
- Emotional expression plays a role in parent-child interactions and feeding dynamics.
- Understanding the affective states of children with FTT is crucial for intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare positive and negative affect in children with FTT versus normally growing children.
- To investigate the influence of malnutrition and organic factors on affect in FTT.
- To explore the implications for clinical assessment and FTT theories.
Main Methods:
- Assessed positive and negative affect in 28 children with FTT and 14 controls (6-36 months).
- Evaluated children in both feeding and nonfeeding situations.
- Examined the roles of malnutrition (acute/chronic) and organic factors in FTT.
Main Results:
- Children with FTT showed less positive affect in both situations compared to controls.
- FTT children displayed more negative affect during feeding than controls.
- Acute and chronic malnutrition in FTT children correlated with increased negative feeding affect; organic factors did not.
Conclusions:
- Affective differences in FTT children suggest emotional well-being is compromised.
- Malnutrition, particularly combined acute and chronic, significantly impacts negative affect during feeding.
- Findings may inform clinical evaluations and theoretical models of failure-to-thrive.
Abstract:
Positive and negative affects were assessed in 28 6- to 36-month-old children with failure-to-thrive and 14 normally growing children in feeding and nonfeeding situations. The roles of malnutrition and severity of organic effects also were examined. Failure-to-thrive children expressed less positive affect in the feeding and nonfeeding situations and more negative affect in feeding than normally growing children. Among failure-to-thrive children, the presence of both acute and chronic malnutrition was associated with heightened negative affect during feeding, whereas the degree of organic contribution had no effect. These results, if replicated, may have implications for clinical assessment and are discussed in terms of current theories of failure-to-thrive.