Gli eventi traumatici oroalimentari nell’infanzia: interazioni alimentari madre-bambino e padre-bambino a confronto

Objective: To date, few researches have investigated the impact that traumatic experiences to the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract could have during infancy. These events can give rise to a Post-Traumatic Feeding Disorder, characterized by an acute onset of severe child food refusal. Moreover, research so far has focused exclusively on mother-child dyads, with a neglect of fathers’ role. The current study investigated mother-child and father-child feeding interactions during infancy, with children with a medical history of traumatic experience to the oropharynx or gastrointestinal tract - like nasogastric tube or chocking. Method: The sample consisted of three groups of children: a first Medical Group with a Post-Traumatic Feeding Disorder; a second Medical Group with the same traumatic experience without the Post-Traumatic Feeding Disorder; and a control group, with no feeding disorder diagnosis and no traumatic experience. During home visits, mother–child and father–child feeding interactions were videotaped. Results: Both mothers and fathers from the Post-Traumatic Feeding Disorder group showed feeding interactions characterized by higher interactive conflict and negative affective states, and their children had higher resistance to swallow food. Interestingly, the second medical group with traumatic experience but that was not specifically diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Feeding Disorder, showed less positive parent–child interactions than the parents in the control group. Conclusions: Clinical intervention is important when a clear diagnosis is recognized and when there is not a diagnosis but a vulnerability in the parent-child interactions. Moreover, the findings about the specificity of the father-child interaction highlight the importance of fathers’ involvement in the clinical intervention