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Variability in parenting behaviours during play and during mealtimes with toddlers |
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| Authors: | Bharathi J. Zvara Sarah A. Keim Rebecca Andridge Sarah E. Anderson |
| Affiliation: | 1. Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing;2. Division of Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA Center for Biobehavioral Health, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA Contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Writing - review & editing;3. Division of Biostatistics, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA Contribution: Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Visualization, Writing - review & editing;4. Division of Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio, USA |
| Abstract: | Few empirical studies have explored variability in parenting behaviours observed in a mealtime setting as well as in a play setting with young children. We analysed data from 282 parent–toddler dyads who participated in the Play & Grow study in the United States in 2017–2019. Parent–child interactions were video recorded during play in the laboratory when the child was 18 months old and then during mealtime in the home 6 months later. Standardised coding procedures were used to rate parenting behaviours (sensitivity, cognitive stimulation, positive regard, detachment, intrusive control and negative regard). We describe correlations and differences and variability in parenting behaviour between the two assessments and relative to child sex, gestational age, parent education level, household composition and household income. Detachment was lower on average during play at 18 months compared to during mealtime at 24 months (Cohen's d = −0.40), and the other five parenting behaviours were greater on average during play than during mealtime (d = 0.18–0.43). Sociodemographic characteristics were unrelated to the magnitude of individual differences across contexts in any of the parenting behaviours. Implications for research on associations between parent–child interactions and risk for childhood obesity are discussed. |
| Keywords: | behaviour family meal free-play observed interactions parenting toddler |