A correlational study of adult picky eating: proposing a developmental model

Adult picky eating (PE) is quite common, and when extreme, is associated with emotional, social, and physical distress and damage. In this correlational study we examined retrospectively childhood PE, parental accommodation of childhood PE, sensory over-responsiveness, and current symptoms of anxiety and depression, to test their combined contribution to adult picky eating.

Participants were 352 adult community volunteers, predominantly female (79.5%), aged 18-71 years, with some college education (mean 14.4 years). They self-reported online on current picky eating, retrospective childhood picky eating, parental accommodation of childhood PE, sensory regulation disorder, and current symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Adult picky eating was positively associated with retrospectively reported childhood picky eating, parental accommodation of childhood picky eating, sensory over-responsiveness, and current symptoms of anxiety and depression. In hierarchical regression analyses, parental accommodation explained unique variance in adult picky eating above and beyond childhood picky eating, sensory over-responsiveness, and emotional symptoms. Structural equation modeling supported a developmental model in which childhood picky eating and sensory over-responsiveness contributed to adult picky eating both directly and indirectly, via parental accommodation and symptoms of anxiety and depression.

While the initiation of childhood PE is related to sensory hyper-responsivity, progression from childhood PE to adult PE is more likely to be maintained by parental accommodation. Counseling parents of children with PE to minimize accommodation may have beneficial effects on their children's development, even if selective eating is fueled by sensory over-responsiveness.