Maluga, Natasha (2011) The Role of Age in Feeding: A Cross-Sectional Study of Younger and Older Children With and Without Feeding Difficulties. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The feeding process is essential for the achievement of developmental milestones and allows critical interactions from within the parent- child relationship. There is a strong belief that feeding difficulties occur in the context of dysfunction within this interaction (Bentovim, 1970). The current literature suggests that difficulties within the realm of feeding may be due to the child’s quest for autonomy which may not fit with the parent’s own style of engagement (Birch, 1990a). This process is one which requires negotiation between the parent and child. Whilst most of the current research places focus on the earlier years, there is increasing reason for concern in older school aged children. This may be due to concerns regarding the evolution of this into a chronic issue, commencement of schooling (Moore, Tappert & Murphy, 2009), in addition to the link between childhood feeding difficulties and the onset of eating disorders (Marchi & Cohen, 1990) and obesity (Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007). As literature in this area is limited, further exploration is required. The following study aimed to look at feeding difficulties in a comparison of younger (M = 30.69 months, SD = 9.63 months) and older aged children (M = 85.74, SD = 17.19). These comparisons were guided by a new tool, the Parent and Toddler Feeding Assessment Tool (PATFA; Adamson & Morawska, 2008) which was divided into six scales looking at a variety of issues including feeding behaviours, parent strategies and parent cognitions. Within each age group, parents were again divided into a further two groups; those that stated they were concerned (n = 10) and those that were unconcerned (n = 84). The parents from the younger aged cohort were accessed from an archival data set (Adamson, 2001) whist the older cohort were collected for the purpose of this study. In light of the limited use of the PATFA, the Child Eating Behaviour Inventory Revised Version (CEBI; Archer, Rosenbaum & Streiner, 1991) was selected for the purpose of convergent validity. Analysis found significant differences in the Parent Cognitions Scale [t(186) = 2.06, p = .04], with parents of older children displaying higher rates of maladaptive cognitions than parents of younger children. In the remaining five scales there was no significant differences identified between age groups. As expected, a significant main effect was located in the case of concerned status however no interaction effect was located between age and concerned status. For the purpose of convergent validity, the PATFA (Adamson & Morawska, 2008) and CEBI (Archer et al., 1991) were significantly correlated. The lack of significant findings may have been due to the limited number of participants collected who reported being concerned. In any case, the study has confirmed no significant differences between younger and older children based on factors evaluated by the PATFA (Adamson & Morawska) whilst identifying that concerned and nonconcerned status located significant differences.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Michelle Adamson |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Oct 2025 01:22 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2025 01:22 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52530 |
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