Examining the whole plate: The role of the family context in the understanding of children's food refusal behaviors

Introduction: In the context of understanding children's food refusal behaviors, such as food fussiness and food neophobia, research has predominantly focused on the role of parental feeding strategies. However, little is known about which general family context variables add to the understanding of children's food refusal behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between 1) parents' own use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies when they are anxious, 2) parents' reactions towards their children's emotions in stressful situations, and 3) parenting styles on the one hand, and children's food refusal behaviors on the other. Methods: Mothers and fathers (N = 157) of young children (M = 4.64, SD = 1.7) completed a series of self- and parent-report questionnaires. Results: The model examining the role of parenting styles was found to be significantly related to food refusal behaviors in children. More specifically, the current findings demonstrate that higher levels of a coercive parenting style were associated with higher levels of both food fussiness and food neophobia in children. Furthermore, higher levels of a chaotic parenting styles were associated with higher levels of food neophobia in children. The models examining parents' maladjusted emotion regulation strategies when anxious and parents' reactions towards their children's emotions during stressful situations were not found to be significant. Conclusions: Factors related to the parenting style appear to be important for understanding food refusal behaviors in children. Replication of the findings using longitudinal and observational designs is needed.