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Comorbidity in specific language disorders and early feeding disorders: mother-child interactive patterns

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This empirical study has its main object in highlighting the role of mother-child interactive experiences in the development of affective and communicative exchanges in infancy. METHODS: The study analyzed four groups of mother-child couples with children who presented a Specific Language Disorder (SLD) the first, a Feeding Disorder (FD) the second, the third an association of SLD and FD, and a fourth non clinical group. Diagnostic assessments were done through: a specific linguistic protocol, the Italian version of the Feeding Scale-Observational Scale for Mother-Infant Interactions during Feeding, specific psychodiagnostic questionnaires for mothers and children. CONCLUSION: A distortion in the communication area can significantly weigh upon the quality of infant-caregiver relationship: our data on mothers of children with a SLD/FD comorbidity confirm this finding by describing their children as prone to isolation and withdrawal, thus directing their efforts and worries to a specifically communicative and relational factor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurological, Psychiatric and Rehabilitative Sciences for Childhood and Adolescence, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    A. Fabrizi, A. Costa & E. Patruno

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    L. Lucarelli

Authors
  1. A. Fabrizi
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  2. A. Costa
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  3. L. Lucarelli
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  4. E. Patruno
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Correspondence to A. Fabrizi.

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Fabrizi, A., Costa, A., Lucarelli, L. et al. Comorbidity in specific language disorders and early feeding disorders: mother-child interactive patterns. Eat Weight Disord 15, e152–e160 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325294

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