The quality of mother-child feeding interactions during COVID-19 pandemic: An exploratory study on an Italian sample

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the life of individuals in several realms such as work, education, and interpersonal interactions. No research has so far investigated the possible influence of the emergency on the quality of mother-child exchanges during feeding. The present study aimed to do so in a sample of mothers and children (N = 359) recruited in the general population. The SVIA was used to evaluate the quality of the dyadic feeding interactions; the SCL-90/R and the BSFC were employed to assess mothers’ psychopathological risk and caregiving distress. The CBCL 1,5–5 was used to tap mothers’ perception of offspring’s emotional/behavioral functioning. All measures were administered at 18 (T1) and 36 months (T2) of the children (respectively pre-pandemic and during the pandemic periods). Results showed that the quality of the feeding interactions worsened from T1 to T2. Mothers’ psychopathological risk, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsion scores and caregiving distress significantly increased. Children’s emotional/behavioral functioning worsened during the pandemic, with significantly higher Internalizing and Externalizing scores. This is the first study to focus on the quality of mother-child feeding interactions during the pandemic. This exploratory study can expand the knowledge on the possible negative outcomes of COVID-19 on family life and caregiving.