Fussy eating is a nuanced, mealtime-specific behaviour associated with difficult temperament but has been rarely examined within the context of mealtime structure. The aim of this study was to a) examine associations between child temperament, and mothers' and fathers' structure-related feeding practices and b) explore whether these associations were mediated by child fussy eating. Cohabiting mother-father pairs (N = 205) of children aged between 2- to 5-years residing in a socioeconomically disadvantaged Australian city completed self-reported, validated measures of child temperament, food fussiness and structure-related feeding practices (structured meal timing, structured meal setting and family meal setting). Child temperament was associated with maternal and paternal structure-related feeding practices, such that more difficult temperament was associated with less mealtime structure. Mothers' perception of child food fussiness mediated the relationship between difficult temperament and increased provision of alternative meals to the child from the rest of the family. Additionally, mothers' and fathers' perception of child food fussiness mediated the relationship between difficult child temperament and lower frequency of sitting at a table together for family meals. Therefore, perceptions of child food fussiness may explain why mothers and fathers use less structure at mealtimes with children who have more difficult temperaments. These results suggests that similar intervention approaches can be used for both mothers and fathers from socioeconomically disadvantaged families to target fussy eating and structure the mealtime environment. Promoting mealtime structure to facilitate parents' appropriate responses to food refusal or difficult behaviour at mealtimes is indicated.

中文翻译：

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孩子们带来了什么：气质和孩子挑食与母亲和父亲进餐时间结构的关联

挑食是一种微妙的、特定于进餐时间的行为，与脾气暴躁有关，但很少在进餐时间结构的背景下进行研究。本研究的目的是 a) 检查儿童气质与母亲和父亲与结构相关的喂养习惯之间的关联，以及 b) 探索这些关联是否由儿童挑食介导。居住在澳大利亚社会经济弱势城市的 2 至 5 岁儿童的同居父母对 (N = 205) 完成了自我报告的、经过验证的儿童气质、食物挑剔和与结构相关的喂养做法（结构化膳食时间）的测量、结构化膳食设置和家庭膳食设置）。儿童气质与母体和父体结构相关的喂养方式有关，因此，较难的气质与较少的进餐时间结构有关。母亲对孩子食物挑剔的看法调节了脾气暴躁与增加家庭其他成员为孩子提供替代膳食之间的关系。此外，母亲和父亲对孩子食物挑剔的看法调节了孩子脾气暴躁与一起坐在餐桌旁吃家庭餐的频率较低之间的关系。因此，对儿童食物挑剔的看法可以解释为什么母亲和父亲在与脾气暴躁的孩子一起进餐时使用较少的结构。这些结果表明，类似的干预方法可用于社会经济弱势家庭的母亲和父亲，以针对挑食和构建进餐时间环境。