Contexts as Moderators of Observed Interactions: A study of Costa Rican Mothers and Infants from Differing Socioeconomic Backgrounds

A systematic review suggests marked differences in the prevalence of infant-directed vocalization across groups of populations

Anthropological reports have long suggested that speaking to young children is very infrequent in certain populations (notably farming ones), which is in line with scattered quantitative studies. A systematic review was undertaken to use available literature in order to estimate the extent of population variation. Database searches, expert lists, and citation searches led to the discovery of 29 reports on the frequency of vocalizations directed to infants aged 24 months or younger, based on systematic observations of spontaneous activity in the infant's natural environment lasting at least 30 min in length. Together, these studies provide evidence on 1314 infants growing up in a range of communities (urban, foraging, farming). For populations located outside of North America, the frequency with which vocalization was directed to urban infants was much higher than that for rural infants (including both foraging and farming, medians = 12.6 vs. 3.6% of observations contained infant-directed vocalization behaviors). We benchmarked this effect against socio-economic status (SES) variation in the United States, which was much smaller. Infants in high SES American homes were spoken to only slightly more frequently than those in low SES homes (medians = 16.4 vs. 15.1% of observations contained infant-directed vocalization behaviors). Although published research represents a biased sample of the world's populations, these results invite further cross-population research to understand the causes and effects of such considerable population group differences.

Factors associated with the adults' attachment styles in Lebanon: The role of alexithymia, depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, and emotional intelligence

PURPOSE

To evaluate the association of adults' attachment styles with mental disorders in Lebanon.

DESIGN/METHODS

A cross-sectional observational study enrolled 789 participants between November 2017 and March 2018.

FINDINGS

People with distress (with dismissing- and fearful-dominant relationship styles) and people with instability (preoccupied-dominant relationship style with equal presence of the secured, fearful, and dismissing styles) had higher alcohol use disorder, alexithymia, depression, anxiety, stress, decreased emotional intelligence (emotional awareness, emotional management, and social-emotional awareness), burnout scores and suicidal ideation compared people with wellbeing, with a secure-dominant relationship style.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

It is very important to assess bonding traits in disease prevention centers, caregiver institutions, employment assessments, and then coaching might help those individuals under risk to prevent mental health problems.

Profiles of infant communicative behavior

Prior studies of mother-infant interaction have generally used a variable-centered approach to associate face-to-face communication with psychosocial outcomes. Herein, we use a person-centered approach to identify clusters of infants who exhibit similar behavioral profiles during face-to-face communication with their mothers. Four infant communication channels were examined-gaze, facial affect, vocal affect, and head orientation-coded from videotape at a 1-s temporal resolution. We used k-means clustering to classify community infants (N = 132) into 10 groups, based on variation in the intercept and the autocorrelation function at the first time lag, representing respectively the overall level of behavior and the predictability of the infant's moment-by-moment behavioral stream, in each of the 4 communication channels. In this exploratory study, 10 clusters were identified, some with unusual levels or predictability of behavior in varying channels, and clusters associated differentially with risk outcomes (infant 4-month temperament and 12-month attachment). Distinct forms of affective dysregulation were identified: sustained negative vocal affect associated with degree of disorganization; random vocal affect associated with attachment resistance; random facial affect and vocal affect, irrespective of positive/negative valence, associated with infant difficult temperament. Clustering multiple channels of infant communication generated unique behavioral profiles and predicted 4- and 12-month outcomes, suggesting that these clusters may indeed represent natural types of infant communicative behavior, not easily observed with the naked eye, that may be useful behavioral markers of clinical risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

How Usual Is “Play As You Usually Would”? A Comparison of Naturalistic Mother-Infant Interactions with Videorecorded Play Sessions in Three Cultural Communities

In developmental research, mothers are frequently asked to “play as you usually would.” In this study, maternal behavior towards their three-month-olds in three cultural communities (Nso, Cameroon; Gujarati, India; Athens, Greece) was compared between videorecorded “play” situations and naturalistic observations. If there is consistency, videorecorded “play” episodes can be used as a proxy for daily behavior. Body contact, body stimulation, face-to-face situations, and object stimulation were coded. While individual mothers showed consistent levels of body contact and face-to-face and object stimulation in both situations, there were also high correlations across the different types of behaviors. Only body contact and object stimulation correlate significantly across behavioral frames but not with each other across or within either observational frame. They can therefore be understood as behaviors with some discriminatory power. Mothers generally show a higher frequency of behaviors in the videorecorded play situations than during the everyday observations across all three communities. However, the samples differ in the extent to which three of the four behaviors are seen more in the videorecorded play sessions. A broader and general understanding of mothers’ ethnotheories and daily activities in each community is required in order to interpret videographed “play as you usually would” situations.

Gender and birth order as determinants of parental behaviour

This study analyses the effect of gender and birth order of fifty-eight 3-month-old first- and laterborn boys and girls on parental treatment. Presence of parents, maternal primary care, and maternal and paternal facial exchange with the baby were assessed during videotaped observation sessions equivalent to a full day. The data reveal a sound birth rank effect, indicating that firstborns are preferred over laterborns in several respects: presence of mothers, presence of fathers, and father’s face-to-face behaviour when the mother is also present. With respect to gender differences, mothers prefer their daughters in terms of presence and primary care. Fathers prefer their sons in terms of presence. Unexpectedly, fathers prefer their daughters in terms of face-to-face exchange. The social context of fathers’ and mothers’ joint presence reveals the only interaction effect between gender and birth order with the preference of firstborn boys. The findings are related to previous research results as well as evolutionary considerations about parental investment.

Parenting in Indonesia: Inter- and intracultural differences in mothers’ interactions with their young children

The interactions between 76 lower-class Indonesian mothers and their young children were observed both at home and in a structured play setting. Maternal interactive behaviour in the play session was compared with that of Japanese, Dutch, and Surinam-Dutch mothers observed in a similar setting. The interactive behaviour of Indonesian mothers was found to be more similar to that of Dutch and Surinam-Dutch mothers than to that of Japanese mothers. Mothers’ supportive behaviour in the structured play session was significantly related to their sensitivity at home. Maternal interactive behaviour in the two settings was also significantly but differentially related to characteristics of the immediate and socioeconomic context. The results suggest that socioeconomic factors have a stronger impact on the quality of parenting than cultural factors and that the observation of mother-child interactions in different settings may tap different aspects of parenting.

Work-themed play among young children in foraging and farming communities in Central Africa

In small-scale societies children have great access to observing adult roles and this is often reflected in their play, however very few empirical studies of work-themed play have been conducted despite substantial implications that this type of play has for social learning. The current study describes the work-themed play patterns of 1 1/2- to 4-year-old Aka and Bofi foragers and Bofi farmers in Central Africa and examines the extent to which subsistence economy, age, and gender predicted how often children were observed engaging in work-themed play and characteristics of work-themed play. Overall, farmer children engaged in more work-themed play than forager children. Very few gender differences were observed in work-themed play. Age and subsistence economy predicted tendencies for children to be near adults while engaged in work-themed play and to use objects in their work-themed play.

Effect of situation on mother-infant interaction

Research has shown that the early parent-infant relationship is of critical importance for children's developmental outcomes. While the effect of different settings on mother-infant interactive behavior is well studied, only few researchers systematically examined the effect of situational variables on mother-infant interaction. In the present study the effect of situational variables within the home setting on the quality of mother-infant interaction at 6 months was examined as well as the consistency in the quality of behaviors of mother and infant across these situations. During a home visit 292 mother-infant dyads were videotaped in three different situations (i.e., free play, face-to-face play, and diaper change). Interactive behaviors of mother and infant were assessed with the NICHD global ratings scales. Results showed substantial effects of situation on the interactive behavior of the mother-infant dyad. Despite the observed situational effects maternal sensitivity to non-distress, intrusiveness, stimulation of development, and positive regard and all five infant behavioral scales remained stable across the different situations. Insight into situational effects within the home setting on the quality of mother-infant interactive behavior may assist researchers to make well-informed decisions about measuring the parent-infant interaction in one or more specific situations.

A biocultural approach to breastfeeding interactions in Central Africa

Anthropologists have long recognized that breastfeeding involves much more than feeding; it entails intimate social interactions between infants or children and their mothers. However, breastfeeding has predominantly been studied with respect to structural features (frequency, timing) as well as nutritional and health aspects of infant feeding. Thus, in this study we complement previous anthropological studies by examining social interactions that occur during breastfeeding among the Aka and Bofi foragers and Ngandu and Bofi farmers at various ages (three to four months, nine to ten months, toddlers). Further, we use an integrated biocultural perspective to explore how patterns of breastfeeding and social interactions can be shaped by economic constraints, cultural values, and children's development. Overall, our findings illustrate how biological and cultural factors interact and provide useful explanations of variations in breastfeeding structure and social interactions more so than either perspective alone.

Infant Social Interactions With Multiple Caregivers

Most studies of diverse populations of families within the United States have either focused predominantly on ethnicity or socioeconomic status (SES), and those that have examined both ethnicity and SES have noted difficulties in disentangling the effects of SES and ethnicity. In order to achieve a greater understanding of variation in infant experiences with parental and nonparental caregivers in differing socioeconomic and ethnic contexts, 41 infants from African American and 40 infants from European American families of lower and middle SES were observed for 12 hours each in and around their home environments. Ethnic differences were evident in the infants’ overall experiences with caregivers, maternal availability, affection, caregiving, and stimulation by nonnuclear relatives; SES differences were identified for maternal and paternal holding, maternal carrying, and paternal caregiving. When caregiver availability was taken into account, variations in interactional and care experiences were predominantly predicted by ethnicity. These results underscore the need to study both ethnicity and socioeconomic variation rather than either one alone. Furthermore, the caregiving behaviors of African American mothers and fathers may be misrepresented when multiple SES contexts are not considered.

The role of maternal affect attunement in dyadic and triadic communication

The influence of maternal affect attunement on the relationship between gaze monitoring during dyadic communication at 3 months and coordinated attention during triadic communication at 5, 7 and 10 months was examined in a longitudinal study. Although most infants engaged in gaze monitoring at 3 months and in coordinated attention at 5, 7 and 10 months, a regression analysis revealed that gaze monitoring at 3 months significantly predicted coordinated attention at 10 months only when maternal affect attunement was high. These findings are discussed in terms of theories that emphasize the role of social interaction in the development of meaningful communication and continuity in mental state awareness during the first year of life.

Parenting beliefs and behaviors in northern and southern groups of Italian mothers of young infants

Similarities and differences in northern and southern Italian mothers' social and didactic parenting beliefs and behaviors, and relations between their beliefs and behaviors, are reported. Both groups of mothers reported that they engaged more in social than didactic interactions with their infants, whereas in actuality both groups engaged in didactic behaviors with their infants for longer periods of time than they engaged in social behaviors. In addition, northern mothers engaged in more social interactions with their infants than did southern mothers. No correlations between beliefs and behaviors emerged in either group. These data speak to issues of intracultural variation and cross-cultural similarities in family psychology and parenting, belief-behavior relations in parenting, and the importance of methodology (parental report or observation) in the study of parenting and family functioning.