Associations Between Technology Use, Responsive Feeding, and Child Temperament Among Prior Prenatal Intervention Participants.
Alison K Ventura, Chantelle N Hart, Suzanne Phelan and 2 others
PMID 37020323WHAT IT FOUND
Mothers who watched TV or used phones during dinner were significantly less responsive to their toddlers' fullness cues.
Children of distracted mothers showed stronger early signs of being full, while mothers with children rated as more difficult were more likely to use devices.
Key findings
01Mothers who used TV or mobile devices during the meal showed significantly lower responsiveness to their child's satiation cues compared to mothers who did not.
02Children of mothers who used devices exhibited stronger early or subtle satiation cues, such as slowing their eating pace, than children of mothers who did not.
03Higher maternal reports of child negative affectivity were associated with a greater likelihood of the mother using TV or mobile devices during the meal.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (n = 77), and the study was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if device use causes poor responsiveness or if difficult child temperament leads to more device use. Inter-rater reliability for the observational coding was adequate but low (ICC ~0.60). Device use was recorded as a simple yes/no variable, so the extent or type of distraction was not measured. Mothers and children knew they were being filmed, which may have influenced their natural behavior. Child temperament was based on maternal report, which may be subject to bias.
Declared interests
The study was supported by NIH and non-U.S. government funding. No specific conflicts of interest regarding the intervention or technology companies are detailed in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that removing screens will automatically improve feeding outcomes. This study shows an association between device use and lower maternal responsiveness, but it does not prove that device use causes the poor responsiveness or that children's weight or developmental outcomes will improve if screens are removed.