Research & Practice
Executive Function, Eating Competence, and the Feeding Relationship in Parents of Preschool-Aged Children
The Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding (sDOR) is a commonly used feeding framework to establish healthy eating and feeding relationships in preschool-aged children. Eating competence is positively associated with adherence to the sDOR. Both eating competence and adherence to the sDOR require executive functioning skills but little is known about the relationship between executive functioning, eating competence, and adherence to the sDOR.
The primary aim of this study is to test whether parental executive function is related to eating competence and/or adherence to the sDOR. In this cross-sectional study, 40 participants completed the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS), Satter Eating Competence Inventory (ecSI 2.0TM), Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding Inventory for 2- to 6-year-olds (sDOR.2-6yTM), the 10-Item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and completed short answer questions about the family meal experience. Correlations between survey totals were calculated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Qualitative themes were compiled from short answer responses.
While there was a relationship between executive function and eating competence, further research is necessary to ascertain if there is a relationship between executive function and adherence to the sDOR because the sample did not contain enough variety in executive functioning abilities to draw any conclusions about this relationship.
Project Type(s): Master's Thesis
Author(s): Kristen Evans
Program(s): Master of Science, RDN Training
Year: 2025
Adviser(s):