ERIC Number: EJ1226485
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: N/A
Culture-Specific Development of Early Mother-Infant Emotional Co-Regulation: Italian, Cameroonian, and West African Immigrant Dyads
Lavelli, Manuela; Carra, Cecilia; Rossi, Germano; Keller, Heidi
Developmental Psychology, v55 n9 p1850-1867 Sep 2019
Studies conducted in Western countries document the special role of mother--infant face-to-face exchanges for early emotional development including social smiling. A few cross-cultural studies have shown that the Western pattern of face-to-face communication is absent in traditional rural cultures, without identifying other processes that promote emotional Co-regulation. The present study compared three different samples: Western middle-class families in Italy, rural traditional Nso farmer families in Cameroon, and West African sub-Saharan immigrant families in Italy using biweekly observations of 20 mother-infant dyads from each cultural context from age 4 to 12 weeks. Longitudinal sequential analysis of maternal and infant behaviors showed that from as early as 4 weeks, in Italian dyads maternal affectionate talking is linked with infant active attention to mother in sequences of face-to-face contact; this link fosters the subsequent emergence of infant smiling/cooing, and then sequences of positive feedback between infant and maternal emotional expressions that, by the 3rd month, dynamically stabilize. In contrast, for Cameroonian/Nso dyads over the 2nd and 3rd month, maternal motor stimulation marked by rhythmic vocalizing is linked with infant active attention to surroundings. The relatively few smiling/cooing actions of Nso babies at their mothers were answered mainly with tactile stimulation that did not foster the maintenance of face-to-face visual contact. Finally, West African immigrant dyads showed a combination of both face-to-face and sensorimotor coregulated exchanges observed in their new and native cultures. These findings suggest that emotional Co-regulation in early infancy can occur via multiple, culture-specific pathways that may be substantially different from the western pattern of face-to-face communication.
Descriptors: Parent Child Relationship, Infants, Mothers, Longitudinal Studies, Cross Cultural Studies, Middle Class, Rural Areas, Agricultural Occupations, Feedback (Response), Foreign Countries, Role, Self Control, Immigrants, Infant Behavior, Attention, Psychomotor Skills, Tactual Perception, Maintenance, Western Civilization, African Culture, Socialization, Acculturation, Child Development, Cultural Context
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Italy; Cameroon; Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A