Exploring the role of infant temperament in the relationship between self-feeding and parental responsiveness

Most international and national feeding recommendations highlight the role of parental responsiveness for shaping infants' self-regulation when feeding and eating, with research suggesting that a more infant-led approach to complementary feeding is associated with greater parental responsiveness. Infant temperament can shape both approach to complementary feeding and parental responsiveness, and may moderate the relationship between them. For example, more surgent infants might initiate more self-feeding attempts which prompt increased parental responsiveness, whereas infants with more negative affect might show more frustration when self-feeding which may increase uncertainty and lower parental responsiveness. However, the role of infant temperament in these interactions has not yet been empirically explored. Furthermore, most research in this area is questionnaire-based. In this study we utilised home-based mealtime observations to examine the relationship between the proportion of infant self-feeding, parental responsiveness and infant temperament. Fifty-one parent-infant dyads (infants aged 6-18 months) were video recorded during typical mealtime interactions, and we coded infant self-feeding and parental responsiveness. Parents also completed questionnaires regarding their infants’ temperament. Observed parental responsiveness to infant fullness was positively associated with the proportion of infant self-feeding. Infant surgency was associated with observed parental responsiveness to fullness but no aspects of infant temperament moderated the relationship between self-feeding and responsiveness. These findings suggest that infant temperament and self-feeding are related to parental responsiveness, although the relationship between responsiveness and infant independence during mealtimes may not depend on temperament.