The Relationship Between Parent Anxiety Symptomatology and Feeding Behaviors: A Systematic Review

Background Feeding behaviors adopted by parents influence children’s eating, and parent mental health may affect feeding interactions. Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental disorders among adults; thus, there is a need to comprehensively understand the relationship between parent anxiety symptomatology and feeding behaviors. Objective This systematic review provides the first comprehensive overview that focuses solely on parent anxiety and nonresponsive feeding. Based on PRISMA guidelines, the goal of this review is to elucidate current literature gaps and to inform future interventions that aim to reduce the risk of childhood obesity. Methods PubMed and APA PsycInfo were searched with an extensive keyword combination to identify empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals that focus on parent anxiety and feeding behaviors that are utilized with typically developing children of ages 6 months or older. After independent and masked screening rounds of 925 articles, 10 studies were included for data extraction. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, the independently extracted data included the following: authors, year of publication, sample characteristics, study design, anxiety and feeding measures, study goal, main findings, and methodological limitations. Results Of the 10 studies included in this systematic review, 70% indicated an association between parent anxiety symptomatology and nonresponsive feeding behaviors of restriction, control, and emotional feeding. Ninety percent of the included studies had a mother-only sample. Conclusions Parents with anxiety symptomatology tend to use nonresponsive and obesogenic feeding practices. Given this relationship, parent anxiety is a potential area for inclusion in interventions that aim to reduce children’s risk for obesity.