Social competence, an interactive style characterized by engagement, cooperation and positive affect, likely develops through the reciprocal nature of mother-child interactions. Incompetent social behavior, manifested as behavior problems, is stable from 2-5 years and throughout childhood and is associated with problems in adolescence. Interactions around food provide the young child with consistent and predictable social experiences with mother, which may establish templates for interactive patterns with others.

This presentation describes a scale developed to assess the pattern of toddler social behaviors in relation to maternal behaviors during an eating episode. The study included 126 dyads at the child's ages of 12, 24, and 36 months. The scale classifies mothers on the basis of maternal responsiveness and control and children on the basis of autonomy and engagement. Reliability and validity of the scale were examined using established measures.

The majority of mothers (90%) and children (89%) were assigned the same interaction classification at two of three occasions. The balance between maternal controlling behaviors and verbal responsiveness was important in distinguishing the interactive styles of both mother and child. Contrary to expectations, mother's facilitative behaviors were not important predictors of the child's interactive style. Child temperament contributed to child expressions of social competence, but not to the assignment of maternal or child interaction styles. The scale identifies salient areas for parent-child assessment and intervention throughout infancy and toddlerhood. Eating situations can be emphasized as ongoing opportunities for social interactions – a natural “quality time” – rather than stressing nutritional issues or skills surrounding eating.