Psychometric properties of parental stress scales used in paediatric health care settings: A systematic review1.

AIM: To identify scales that assess parental stress in the paediatric clinical population and to analyse their psychometric properties. METHODS: Four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus) and metasearch engines (Google Scholar and Open Grey) were searched with no time period limitations. Methodological quality was assessed using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) and quality of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach modified by COSMIN. Finally, recommendations were made for the instruments with the highest quality of evidence. RESULTS: A total of 38 studies reporting on 11 different instruments for assessing parental stress in the paediatric clinical setting were included. Six instruments were 'A' rated (recommended) in the final phase in line with COSMIN guidelines. The Paediatric Inventory for Parents was the instrument that evaluated the highest number of psychometric properties and obtained the highest methodological quality, global assessment, and quality of evidence for the different psychometric properties. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review provides an overview of the measurement properties of the parental stress instruments used in the paediatric clinical setting. The Paediatric Inventory for Parents stands out as being one of the most robust instruments for measuring stress in parents with a hospitalised or sick child. Evidence needs to be generated for all the parental stress scales used in the clinical setting. IMPACT: Given that the psychometric properties of the existing parental stress scales used in paediatric health care settings have not been systematically assessed, the present review utilised comprehensive methods according to COSMIN. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: REPORTING METHOD: PRISMA statement and COSMIN reporting guidelines for studies on measurement properties of patient-reported outcome measures.

Factors associated with non-urgent presentations in the paediatric emergency department using Andersen's behavioural model: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the rate of NUPs and associated factors in the PED of the 'Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe' in Valencia (Spain) using Andersen's Behavioural Model. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using Andersen's Behavioural Model in parents visiting the PED with their children at the 'Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe' in Valencia (Spain). RESULTS: The study involved a total of 530 participants, of whom 419 (79%) had made an NUP. The predisposing factors identified were: (I) paediatric patients brought in by their fathers (OR = 0.460; p = 0.005), (II) lower educational attainment (OR = 3.841; p = 0.000), (III) first-time parenthood (OR = 2.335; p = 0.000) and (IV) higher parental stress (OR = 1.974; p = 0.023). The enabling factors included: (I) responsibility for a significant part of the childcare shared with others (OR = 0.348; p = 0.041) and (II) the perception that PEDs provide better care than primary care (PC) services (OR = 1.628; p = 0.005). The need factors were: (I) existing chronic illness in the child seeking care (OR = 0.343; p = 0.000) and (II) the perceived severity of the urgency (OR = 0.440; p = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: The NUP rates found in this study are similar to those found internationally. In accordance with Andersen's Behavioural Model, we identify predisposing, enabling and need factors to explain the multifactorial nature of NUPs in PEDs. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Identifying the factors associated with NUPs enables interventions to be targeted at those groups most likely to engage in NUPs, thereby optimising the functioning of the PED and improving the well-being of children and families. These interventions should focus on improving parental health literacy, providing education on making appropriate decisions about accessing health services and recognising severe symptoms in children, as well as improving access to high-quality PC services. Providing support to parents during the transition to parenthood would also be beneficial. REPORTING METHOD: This paper adheres to the STROBE initiative guidelines. CONTRIBUTION FROM PATIENTS OR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: Participants, who voluntarily agreed to take part, contributed to the study by completing a paper-based questionnaire containing all the study variables as prepared by the research team.

Acceptance and Privacy Perceptions Toward Video-based Active and Assisted Living Technologies: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: The aging society posits new socioeconomic challenges to which a potential solution is active and assisted living (AAL) technologies. Visual-based sensing systems are technologically among the most advantageous forms of AAL technologies in providing health and social care; however, they come at the risk of violating rights to privacy. With the immersion of video-based technologies, privacy-preserving smart solutions are being developed; however, the user acceptance research about these developments is not yet being systematized. OBJECTIVE: With this scoping review, we aimed to gain an overview of existing studies examining the viewpoints of older adults and/or their caregivers on technology acceptance and privacy perceptions, specifically toward video-based AAL technology. METHODS: A total of 22 studies were identified with a primary focus on user acceptance and privacy attitudes during a literature search of major databases. Methodological quality assessment and thematic analysis of the selected studies were executed and principal findings are summarized. The PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines were followed at every step of this scoping review. RESULTS: Acceptance attitudes toward video-based AAL technologies are rather conditional, and are summarized into five main themes seen from the two end-user perspectives: caregiver and care receiver. With privacy being a major barrier to video-based AAL technologies, security and medical safety were identified as the major benefits across the studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review reveals a very low methodological quality of the empirical studies assessing user acceptance of video-based AAL technologies. We propose that more specific and more end user- and real life-targeting research is needed to assess the acceptance of proposed solutions.

Factors associated with the inappropriate use of the pediatric emergency department. A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric emergency department (PED) admissions have risen in recent years, a trend not justified by the severity of the pathologies presented. The aim of this study is to analyse factors related to the inappropriate use of pediatric emergency departments. METHODS: This is a systematic review reported in accordance with the PRISMA statement. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct databases, using keywords extracted from MeSH, and conducted a reverse search using Google Scholar and Open Grey, for the period January 2017 to August 2022. The quality of the papers was assessed using STROBE, CASPe, AMSTAR-2, GRADE, Levels Of Evidence and Grades Of Recommendation. RESULTS: A total of 20 studies were selected. Factors related to inappropriate use included the younger age of children, black caregivers, lower socioeconomic status, lower parental educational attainment, perceived urgent demand for care, parental emotions in response to their children's health problems, psychological distress, the ineffective exercise of the parental role, the advantages of the PED and the nature of health insurance. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The results illustrate the heterogeneous nature of the phenomenon under investigation. Gaining an understanding of the factors related to the inappropriate demand of PEDs, from the perspective of health professionals, can help in developing interventions to reduce unnecessary consultations and relieve pressure on these healthcare services.

Development and validation of a parental competence questionnaire in the paediatric hospital emergency setting (ECP-U).

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a parental competence questionnaire for parents of children seeking care in hospital emergency departments. METHODS: An instrumental study of the development of an assessment questionnaire was carried out in three phases: 1) review of relevant measures and item generation, 2) content validity evaluation, 3) psychometric evaluation. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine the factorial structure. Internal consistency was evaluated using ordinal alpha. Hypothesis testing was determined between the resulting factors, the Parental Stress Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS: The participants were 270 parents of children aged 0-14 years old from a referral hospital in Valencia (Spain). An 18-item questionnaire was developed, comprising five factors that explain 53.0% of the variance: 1) "emotional management and expression", 2) "passive social support", 3) "parental agency", 4) "basic needs and care" and 5) "active social support". The internal consistency for the different factors was modest (>0.70). A negative correlation between the Parental Stress Scale and the parental competence questionnaire was found for most of the factors. CONCLUSIONS: This questionnaire on parental competence in the hospital emergency department (ECP-U) is a useful and simple self-report instrument for assessing the parental competence of parents with children in the emergency department. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The resulting questionnaire is of practical value to both healthcare professionals and researchers in this field. It can be administered quickly in clinical practice and used to identify parents' levels of parental competence and refer those with difficulties to appropriate support services.

Factor structure and validity of the Parental Competence Questionnaire in the Paediatric Hospital Emergency Setting (ECP-U).

OBJECTIVE: To confirm the structure and examine the psychometric properties of the Parental Competence Questionnaire in the Paediatric Hospital Emergency Setting (ECP-U). METHODS: An instrumental validation study of the ECP-U questionnaire and an examination of its psychometric properties were carried out. RESULTS: The participants were 260 mothers and fathers seeking care in the paediatric emergency department of a hospital in Valencia (Spain) with children aged 0 to 14 years old. The five-factor structure of the ECP-U was confirmed with excellent statistical fits. Second-order models and a more parsimonious four-factor structure with adequate but marginal fits are proposed. With the exception of the "parental agency" factor (in both models examined) and the "active social support" factor (in the original five-factor structure), the internal consistency of the different factors was modest (≥ 0.70). A negative correlation was found between the Parental Stress Scale and the ECP-U for most factors. CONCLUSIONS: Validity and reliability analyses indicate that the ECP-U is an instrument with modest psychometric properties. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The ECP-U is an instrument that can be used by future researchers to identify different levels of parental competence in paediatric hospital emergency departments. This will enable help to be given to families with parenting issues and problems. The underlying concern is to reduce the number of frequent users and "Non-Urgent Presentations" to paediatric emergency departments due to low parental competence.

Reliability and validity of the reduced Spanish version of the Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale.

Breastfeeding self-efficacy is a relevant predictor of exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life. The Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (PBSES) is a 20-item tool developed to determine breastfeeding self-efficacy during pregnancy. Our study aimed to assess the structural validity and psychometric characteristics of the PBSES and to explore item reduction according to the statistical criteria for parsimony and incremental validity. In this study, conducted in six hospitals in eastern Spain, we recruited 1183 women with healthy, full-term, single-birth newborns. Data on sociodemographic, breastfeeding-related variables, and the PBSES, were obtained from self-administered questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy, at postpartum discharge, and 5 months postpartum, and from a phone survey 12 months postpartum. Item reduction was conducted after revising the PBSES item floor and ceiling effects, interitem correlations, and item-score relationships with breastfeeding-status variables during follow-up. The factorial structure of the short form of the PBSES (PBSES-SF) was tested using both exploratory and confirmatory approaches. After item reduction, the confirmatory factor analysis of the 12 remaining items of the PBSES-SF revealed adequate fit statistics for a three-factor structure and a second-order factor. Internal consistency was measured using the Cronbach's α coefficient of the PBSES-SF (0.86). We provided evidence on the discriminant validity of the PBSES-SF by comparing its scores between known groups, convergent validity by examining its correlations with other variables, and predictive validity by assessing the association of PBSES-SF scores with breastfeeding behavior at critical points in time during the first postpartum year.

Association of the global activity limitation indicator with specific measures of disability in adults aged below 65.

BACKGROUND: health measures as the global activity limitation indicator (GALI) or self-rated health (SRH) allow to quantify and monitor the health of the population. The GALI is widely used in the European Union; however, evidence of its construct validity is still limited. We examine whether the GALI reflects disability in specific living contexts such as self-care, domestic life and work activity, whether it does so consistently across gender and age and its added value concerning SRH. METHODS: We used the subsample of adults aged 16-64 years (N = 15 934) from the 2009 European Health Interview Survey in Spain and analyzed the data with logistic regression models using the GALI and SRH as response variables. RESULTS: The GALI was strongly and significantly associated with the three measures of disability: self-care (OR = 22.8, 95% CI: 15.9-32.7), domestic life (OR = 16.3, 95% CI: 13.6-19.5) and work activity (e.g. impossibility to work: OR = 41.9, 95% CI: 30.3-57.8; prolonged sick leave: OR = 10.7, 95% CI: 9-12.7). There were significant interactions with age on all three disability measures and with the gender on one (domestic life), although they were small. SRH was also strongly associated with all three disability measures, but to a lesser extent than the GALI. CONCLUSIONS: The GALI reflects well and better than SRH, disability in self-care, domestic life and work activity. It is unknown whether the GALI performs equally in other living contexts such as social relations and community life.

The Spanish version of the Mothers' Postnatal Sense of Security Scale: Psychometric properties and predictive utility.

Postnatal sense of security is a relevant construct related to several variables of motherhood. However, it has not yet been studied in the Spanish context. The aims were: (a) To analyze the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Mothers' Postnatal Sense of Security Scale (PPSS-S); (b) analyze the factors related to mothers' sense of security during the first 2 weeks following childbirth (sociodemographic variables and factors related to maternity); and (c) examine the predictive utility that mothers' sense of security has on symptoms of postpartum depression 6-11 months after childbirth. This was a prospective longitudinal study performed in the first 6-11 months post-partum in four regions of Spain. A total of 928 mothers whose mean age was 33.67 years (standard deviation = 4.54) participated. The confirmatory factor analysis showed adequate adjustment to the original structure (χ2 = 17,272.79, df = 153, p < .001; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.98; comparative fit index = 0.98; root mean square error of approximation = 0.058 [0.053-0.063])and the overall internal consistency was 0.89. Direct relationships were shown between women' sense of security and already having had a child, the absence of postpartum health complications (either in the mother or the newborn) and receiving consistent information from healthcare professionals. Our results showed adequate evidence for the reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the PPSS-S. Understanding mothers' sense of security during the early months of motherhood, as well as related factors in the postpartum period, will allow health professionals to implement preventive measures to promote mental health and could help reduce symptoms of postpartum depression.

Factors Related to the Intra-Partner Postnatal Sense of Security in a Spanish Sample.

BACKGROUND: The fathers' sense of security and their related factors during the process of parenthood remains largely unexplored. The objectives were to analyse: the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Parent's Postnatal Sense of Security scale used for fathers, and the factors related to fathers' sense of security during the postpartum period. METHODS: A total of 583 fathers participated. The fathers' version of the questionnaire was adapted for Spanish speakers. The psychometric properties of the instrument and its relationship with the mother's sense of security were considered. FINDINGS: The results showed that the data fit well with the original model (TLI = 0.98, CFI = 0.98, and RMSEA = 0.05). The fathers' sense of security was associated with previously having become a father (t = -2.39, p = .02), the level of state anxiety (r = -0.34; p < .01) and trait anxiety (r = -0.24; p < .01), as well as the sense of security of their partners (r = 0.55, p < .001). In the regression analysis, the mothers' sense of security construct provided the greatest explanation of the model. DISCUSSION: The results of this study highlight the importance of considering the family unit in pre-, intra-, and postnatal education in order to increase the sense of security of both parents and reduce their anxiety levels. APPLICATION TO PRACTICE: This study provides Spanish healthcare professionals with access to a scale for assessing fathers' sense of security in the immediate postpartum period and allows them to identify needs in the process of becoming parents, emphasising the inclusion of both parents in any intervention.

Operational Definition of Serious Mental Illness: Heterogeneity in a Review of the Research on Quality-of-Life Interventions.

BACKGROUND: An operational definition of serious mental illness (SMI) with well-defined inclusion criteria allows the identification of the most vulnerable individuals and secures resources to meet their needs and develop social programs for their treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. In addition, the contents of a clinical construct such as SMI have an impact on both the development and the clinical application of the research results. However, currently, different ways of operationalizing the definition of SMI coexist. AIMS: The aim of this review was to explore whether unanimity exists in the operationalization of SMI definitions in quality-of-life interventions research. METHODS: A review of the literature based on searches of the MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases was conducted. Intervention studies were selected in which quality of life was the outcome variable and adults with SMI were the subject population. RESULTS: A wide range of definition of SMI is used in the scientific literature. CONCLUSIONS: There is a lack of unanimity in the variables considered necessary to identify SMI. The scientific literature uses different approaches to operationalize SMI, and these approaches vary considerably among studies. Caution is required when interpreting quality-of-life research that includes individuals labeled with SMI. It is necessary to reach a consensus on the criteria for applying the SMI label to ensure its content validity.

Development and Validation of a New Questionnaire Assessing Feeding Styles in Toddlers: Toddler Feeding Style Questionnaire (TFSQ).

PURPOSE: To develop and validate a new questionnaire assessing feeding styles in toddlers, the Toddler Feeding Style Questionnaire (TFSQ). DESIGN AND METHODS: An instrumental design was used in this study. A convenience sample of 546 Spanish mothers of a toddler (12-24 months-old) completed the TFSQ and a web-based survey to obtain data on feeding styles, sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, weaning and attachment style. Items were developed and classified into two content domains: responsiveness and demandingness. For the construct validity analysis, the sample was randomly divided into two halves used to the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Validation hypotheses about the differences in the TFSQ scores were suggested. RESULTS: The factorial analysis revealed a responsiveness scale and a demandingness scale. The McDonald's Omega and Cronbach's alpha values coincided in both scales, being 0.84 and 0.75, respectively. A high responsiveness and demandingness feeding styles degree of agreement showed a statistically significant association with the correspondent scale (p < .01). The 33.3% of children who are overweight or obese have mothers who classify themselves as neglectful. Both scales were related to the mothers' attachment styles, toddler's age and the time of weaning at 6 and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: The TFSQ provides a valid and reliable Responsiveness and Demandingness scale to evaluate feeding styles in toddlers. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Parental feeding styles influence future eating behavior and children's weight. There is a lack of validated instruments used to evaluate feeding styles in toddlerhood based on the two theoretical dimensions of responsiveness and demandingness.

Understanding life experiences of people affected by Crohn's disease in Spain. A phenomenological approach.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: People affected by Crohn's disease must adapt their lives to their new chronic condition, and therefore, understanding such experience can be helpful in planning effective interventions for the affected ones. The aim of this study was to gain an insight into such experience and how they adapted in different areas of their lives, particularly in a family-centred culture such as the Spanish one. METHOD: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted through in-depth interviews to 19 people diagnosed of Crohn's disease in the province of Alicante (Spain). Once the interviews were transcribed, data were analysed using Colaizzi's seven-step method. RESULTS: Five emergent themes were identified: self-protection against the unknown cause; self-training; learning to live with Crohn's disease; perceived losses associated to Crohn's disease; and relationship with others. The results portrayed a chronically ill patient who is unconscious about the chronicity and consequently must develop strategies to keep living a similar life like the one lived before. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that people affected by Crohn's disease struggle with the fact of being a chronic patient with uncertainty about the illness and need to learn living with a chronic condition that limits their daily lives. Furthermore, the lack of Crohn's disease a professional in charge of these people's Cares such as the specific nursing role existing in other countries support in the Spanish Health System determines the loneliness those diagnosed experience to cope with the new situation.

[Crohn's disease: The experience of living with a chronic illness]. / Enfermedad de Crohn: experiencias de vivir con una cronicidad.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences of people with Crohn disease (CD), their life-changing events, the impact on their lives and the strategies used to cope with it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Qualitative study. In-depth interviews were carried out on 10 people affected by the disease in the province of Alicante (Spain). The collection, processing and analysis of data was performed using some phenomenological elements. RESULTS: The experiences of those affected can be classified into four main areas: recognition of the illness; perceived consequences of the disease itself by CD affected patients; disease management, and the search for support. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the life experience of people affected by CD appears to be essential for the effective management of chronic illnesses when planning specific health treatment programs.

Instruments for evaluating compliance with infection control practices and factors that affect it: an integrative review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To search for instruments to measure compliance with infection control practices and to report on which dimensions and contents the instruments evaluate, their psychometric characteristics, compliance and factors influencing compliance. BACKGROUND: Low compliance with infection control practices has been reported among healthcare professionals around the world over the years. Existing data concerning health professionals' compliance with standard precautions are based on measuring instruments. DESIGN: Integrative review. METHODS: The descriptors were identified and used separately and in combination to search in the following databases: Lilacs, PubMed (MEDLINE), ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus and CINAHL. The selected articles complied with inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were analysed, resulting in the identification of 18 instruments. No instrument addressed all compliance topics, and the most commonly addressed topics were the use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene and safe practices in the handling of cutting material. Most authors explored content validity and some performed reliability analysis by means of Cronbach's alpha and test-retest. Countries in the sample have different human development indices, and countries with medium and low human development indices show less compliance. Some variables were strong predictors of compliance: training, perceptions of safe environment, perception of obstacles to comply with standard precautions and knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance is below the recommended levels. Health professionals seem to be selective in following standard precautions. Significant influences include institutional management and psychosocial variables, which deserve further study. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Health managers and government policies and interventions should pay greater attention to this subject.

The combined effect of family environment and parents' characteristics on the use of food to soothe children.

Parental feeding practices, such as the use of food to soothe, can be shaped by various factors, including the family environment and parents' psychological characteristics and capacities. To our knowledge, the combined effect of these factors has not been studied. Furthermore, parental feeding practices have mainly been studied in women, resulting in a gender gap in the research. This study aims to investigate the combined effect of family environment and parental characteristics on the likelihood of using food to soothe children, taking the gender of both parents into account. This cross-sectional study included a sample of 846 parents (36.3% men) of 1-year-old children from different regions of Spain. Participants completed an online survey that included questionnaires to measure whether parents used food to soothe children, the family environment, parents' characteristics, and their psychological capacities. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to identify associations between the variables. The final model showed that, within the family environment, higher levels of dyadic adjustment between couples (OR = 0.965; p = .026) were associated with a reduced likelihood of using food to soothe children, whereas the psychological characteristic of parental fatigue (OR = 1.053; p = .007) appeared to be associated with an increased likelihood. Also associated with an increased likelihood of this practice were higher parental sense of competence (OR = 1.028; p = .029) and the attention dimension of emotional intelligence (OR = 1.043; p = .007). Our study suggests that using food to soothe children may be influenced by factors at different levels, from the quality and adjustment of the couple's relationship to parental fatigue, self-competence, and emotional intelligence. For future research, it may be worthwhile contextualizing parental practices to gain a better understanding of children's behavior.

Factors associated with frequent users in hospital paediatric emergency departments: A single centre study in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, the demand for hospital paediatric emergency departments (PEDs) has been on the rise. Studies have been carried out in adults, but in paediatrics, and in Spain, they are few and far between. In order to develop interventions to alleviate this problem, it is necessary to understand the factors that predispose people to use these services. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with frequent users of PEDs in Spain. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted between September 2021 and December 2022 in the PED of a referral hospital in Spain. RESULTS: There were 530 participants, 12.07% of whom were frequent users. There was an indirect association between frequent use and having a secondary level of education (OR = 0.282, p = 0.002). The factors which were directly associated included: perceived urgency (OR = 10.209, p = 0.002) and the perception that PEDs provide better care than primary care (PC) (OR = 2.664, p = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of frequent users is comparable with international levels. As a strategy to reduce the frequency of visits, health interventions are needed to ensure that parents know how to correctly interpret their children's symptoms and are well informed about the recommended flow of care.

The Parental Stress Scale: Psychometric Properties in Pediatric Hospital Emergency Setting.

Parental psychological distress has been identified as a predisposing factor in attendance at and the inappropriate use of hospital pediatric emergency departments (PEDs). The aim of the study was to validate the Parental Stress Scale (PSS), a 12-item Spanish scale, in parents seeking care at PEDs. The study involved 270 participants with a mean age of 37.9 (SD = 6.76) years, of which 77.4% were women. The properties of the PSS were analyzed. The scale showed adequate internal consistency for the different factors (0.80 for the "Stressors" factor and 0.78 for the "Baby's Rewards" factor) and optimal model fit (chi-square = 107.686; df = 53; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.028; 90% CI = 0.00-0.05). The 12-item Spanish version of the PSS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the stress levels of parents seeking care in PEDs.

Paternal feeding practices and styles: a systematic review.

CONTEXT: Studies on parenting, including feeding styles and practices in general, have focused mainly on mothers. Consequently, there is a gap with respect to fathers in the scientific literature. OBJECTIVE: This study's main objective is to determine paternal feeding styles toward children aged 0 to 18 years and to identify those most commonly used by men. DATA SOURCES: The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PsycINFO databases were consulted. DATA EXTRACTION: Articles that were not published in English, Spanish, or Italian were excluded, as well as those that referred to other subjects, those whose sample did not include men, or those studying children with pathologies that could influence their diet. All the articles ultimately included were assessed using the STROBE checklist. DATA ANALYSIS: A total of 183 articles were found. Of these, 13 were included in the review. No trend was found for paternal parenting style, and disparities existed among the authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive styles. In terms of feeding practices, men were more likely to use coercion. The most reported feeding styles were authoritarian and permissive. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of systematic review suggest cultural and gender differences exist with respect to parenting styles and feeding styles and practices. In terms of paternal parenting styles, there is some disparity. However, when it comes to feeding, men showed a tendency toward an authoritarian feeding style and coercive feeding practices.