Might maternal perinatal anxiety predict infant’s early social abilities? New insights from a longitudinal study on low-risk dyads

This work explores the psychometric properties of the Feeding and Play scales to assess the risk for feeding disorders in the context of the father–infant relationship. In addition, we examined the association between father–infant feeding interaction and father–infant play interaction, as well as the effect of the infant’s gender on father-infant feeding and play interactions. A group of 142 infants ranging from 1 month to 3 years and their fathers (age range 22–51 years; mean age = 36.9 years, SD = 5.8 years) were tested with the Feeding and Play scales. Both scales showed adequate internal consistency and a good reliability.