Measurement of the quality of mother-infant feeding interactions across the first year: Reliability and stability of the parent-child early relational assessment.

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (PCERA) in the context of mother-infant feeding interaction. Utilizing a longitudinal design, data were collected from 114 mother-infant dyads, including healthy full-term infants and those born prematurely with diagnosed respiratory disease, one group with chronic respiratory disease (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia) and the second group with acute respiratory disease (Respiratory Distress Syndrome). Observational data were collected at 1, 4, 8, and 12 months post-term age, focusing on parental behavior, infant variables, and dyadic interactions during feeding. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the congeneric structure of the PCERA across three domains: parental, infant, and dyadic. Results indicated support for the congeneric model in all domains, demonstrating that each factor measured a single common latent variable despite variations in item loadings and error terms. Reliability analysis using Cronbach alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients revealed high internal consistency for all eight PCERA factors, indicative of robust measurement properties (Table 3). Further examination of factorial invariance across four time periods (1, 4, 8, and 12 months) demonstrated consistent measurement properties of the PCERA factors throughout the infant's first year of life. This finding suggests stability and reliability in measuring the underlying constructs of mother-infant feeding interaction over time. The study underscores the utility of the PCERA as an observational tool for assessing various dimensions of parent-child interaction during feeding. Findings support its application in diverse settings, including the study of infants with complex medical conditions, such as prematurity and respiratory disease. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of examining parent and infant characteristics as predictors of feeding interaction quality, aiming to identify dyads at risk of poorer interaction outcomes and inform clinical interventions.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Infant Behavior and Development

• Publication date

  2025-03-18

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102038PMID 40106869
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Prevalence of problematic feeding in young children born prematurely: a meta-analysis

  2021cited by this paper
• A scoping review of parental experiences caring for their hospitalised medically fragile infants

  2020cited by this paper
• Assessment of Early Parent–Child Relationships

  2020cited by this paper
• Disruptions in the development of feeding for infants with congenital heart disease.

  2020cited by this paper
• The Use of Cronbach’s Alpha When Developing and Reporting Research Instruments in Science Education

  2017cited by this paper
• Implementing Co-Regulated Feeding with Mothers of Preterm Infants

  2016cited by this paper
• Making Reliability Reliable

  2016cited by this paper
• Measurement Invariance Conventions and Reporting: The State of the Art and Future Directions for Psychological Research.

  2016cited by this paper
• A Norwegian prospective study of preterm mother–infant interactions at 6 and 18 months and the impact of maternal mental health problems, pregnancy and birth complications

  2016cited by this paper
• Mother-child interactions in the NICU: relevance and implications for later parenting.

  2015cited by this paper
• Interstage feeding and weight gain in infants following the Norwood operation: can we change the outcome?

  2012cited by this paper
• Parent-child interaction, maternal depressive symptoms and preterm infant cognitive function.

  2012cited by this paper
• Mother-infant synchrony during infant feeding.

  2012cited by this paper
• Emerging self-regulation in toddlers born preterm or low birth weight: Differential susceptibility to parenting?

  2011cited by this paper
• Daytime Sleep and Parenting Interactions in Infants Born Preterm

  2011cited by this paper
• Maternal Resolution of Grief After Preterm Birth: Implications for Infant Attachment Security

  2011cited by this paper
• Furthering the understanding of parent-child relationships: a nursing scholarship review series. Part 3: Interaction and the parent-child relationship--assessment and intervention studies.

  2010cited by this paper
• Effect of maternal behavior on regulation during feeding in healthy infants and infants with transposition.

  2009cited by this paper
• The mother-infant feeding tool.

  2009cited by this paper
• On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha

  2008cited by this paper
• Heart Rate Variability in Premature Infants During Feeding

  2007cited by this paper
• The Effect of Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Early Maternal Feeding Behavior on Later Infant Feeding Behavior.

  2007cited by this paper
• Congeneric and (Essentially) Tau-Equivalent Estimates of Score Reliability

  2006cited by this paper
• Measurement Model Quality, Sample Size, and Solution Propriety in Confirmatory Factor Models

  2006cited by this paper
• Effect of guided participation on feeding competencies of mothers and their premature infants.

  2005cited by this paper
• Breastfeeding, Bonding, and the Mother-Infant Relationship

  2003cited by this paper
• Developmental progression of feeding skills: an approach to supporting feeding in preterm infants.

  2002cited by this paper
• Infant and caregiving factors affecting weight-for-age and motor development of full-term and premature infants at 1 year post-term.

  2002cited by this paper
• Mothers' evaluation of their caregiving for premature and full-term infants through the first year: contributing factors.

  2001cited by this paper
• Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives

  1999cited by this paper
• The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment: A Factorial Validity Study

  1999cited by this paper
• The adaptiveness of mothers' working models of caregiving through the first year: infant and mother contributions.

  1999cited by this paper
• A feeding scale for research and clinical practice to assess mother—infant interactions in the first three years of life

  1997cited by this paper
• Length of maternity leave and quality of mother-infant interactions.

  1997cited by this paper
• Preterm infant follow-up project: a multi-site field experiment of hospital and home intervention programs for mothers and preterm infants.

  1995cited by this paper
• Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory: two approaches for exploring measurement invariance.

  1993cited by this paper
• Assessment of developmental status and parent–infant relationships: The therapeutic process of evaluation.

  1993cited by this paper
• Schizophrenic and Depressed Mothers: Relational Deficits in Parenting.

  1990cited by this paper
• Intervention for the severely disturbed mother.

  1984cited by this paper
• Developmental changes in maternal interactions with term and preterm infants

  1984cited by this paper
• Developmental patterns in the infants and young children of mentally ill mothers

  1983cited by this paper
• Prediction of IQ and language skill from perinatal status, child performance, family characteristics, and mother-infant interaction.

  1982cited by this paper
• Infant-mother attachment and social development: 'Socialisation' as a product of reciprocal responsiveness to signals.

  1974cited by this paper
• Intrauterine growth of live-born Caucasian infants at sea level: standards obtained from measurements in 7 dimensions of infants born between 25 and 44 weeks of gestation.

  1969cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.