Early food refusal: The role of maternal mood

Abstract

A prospective, longitudinal study was carried out to investigate the relationship between maternal mood and feeding problems, in particular food refusal. A total of 116 mothers and infants were visited at 1 month, 5 months and 11 months postpartum. Mothers filled in the EPDS and the STAI at each of the three visits, and reported whether the infant had undergone a period of solid food refusal between 5 and 11 months postpartum. No differences in maternal anxiety and depression scores were found according to whether or not an infant underwent a period of food refusal. When the food refusal group was divided according to whether or not food refusal had been resolved by 11 months, several differences emerged. In particular, mothers whose infants were still refusing to eat some or all types of food at 11 months had significantly higher state anxiety and depression scores at 1 and 11 months than did the rest of the sample. These results suggest that some mothers, who respond to feeding problems with anxiety or depression, may prolong or worsen the problem. The implications of these results for intervention with mothers of infants with food refusal will be discussed.