Investigation of the personality traits and attachment styles of the mothers of preschool children with food refusal

Food refusal is prevalent in infants and early children, and it has consequences in terms of physical and mental developmental delay, behavioural and parent-child relationships problems. The etiology of food refusal is assumed to be the result of biological and psychosocial factors' interactions. The aim of our study was to compare the maternal personality traits and attachment styles of preschool children with food refusals and healthy control group, and to guide treatment planning in the future. Our study included 60 patients aged 2 to 6 years old and their mothers who applied to the Child Health and Diseases or Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic with a complaint of food refusal, and also 34 healthy volunteers and their mothers. Forms and scales used in this study consisted of Temperament Character Inventory, Adult Attachment Scale, Informed Consent Form and Sociodemographic Form. When the temperament and character traits of the groups were compared, the fatigability subscale score of the harm avoidance temperament dimension in mothers of children with food refusal was significantly lower than the control group, while the taking responsibility subscale score of the self-directed character dimension in mothers of children with food refusal was significantly higher than the control group. The helpfulness subscale scores of the cooperativeness character component of the mothers of children in the selective eating group were substantially higher than the mothers of children in the other patient categories when the patient subgroups were compared within themselves. In terms of maternal attachment styles, both groups were found to be similar. Distribution of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder appearances in the patient group were; selective eating, poor appetite, fear-avoidance of food.