Cultural contributors to negative emotionality: A multilevel analysis from the Joint Effort Toddler Temperament Consortium

This study advances the cross-cultural temperament literature by comparing temperament ratings of toddlers from 14 nations. Multilevel modeling (MLM) procedures were utilized to regress negative emotionality (NE) and component subscales on Hofstede’s cultural value dimensions while controlling for age and gender. More individualistic values were associated with lower NE, and component discomfort, fear, motor activity, perceptual sensitivity, and soothability scales. The discomfort subscale was negatively associated with power distance and positively associated with masculine cultural values. Higher ratings of shyness were related to a more long-term cultural orientation. Results illustrate the feasibility of an MLM approach to cross-cultural research and provide a new perspective on the intersection of culture and temperament development. Limitations and future implications are discussed.

Ecological contributions to maternal-infant functioning: Differences between rural and urban family contexts

AIMS

This study considered urban-rural differences in maternal-infant interactions (sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity), infant temperament, and parenting stress, for samples similar in socioeconomic and racial composition. Higher sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity were hypothesized for urban dyads, with more challenging temperament profiles predicted for rural infants. Rural mothers were expected to report more parenting-role stress.

METHODS

Urban (n = 68; San Francisco Bay) and rural (n = 120; inland Pacific Northwest) mothers of infants provided ratings of temperament and parenting stress. Parental sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity were coded from mother-infant play observations. Groups were compared via analyses of covariance.

RESULTS

Urban mothers demonstrated significantly more sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity compared to their rural counterparts. Rural mothers rated their infants significantly higher in negative affectivity and distress in response to limitations.

CONCLUSION

Although socioeconomic status is traditionally implicated in rural and urban population differences, our results suggest other factors (e.g., isolation, access to resources) warrant further exploration. Rural ecology appears to present risk that should be examined more closely in maternal-infant interactions and child social-emotional development. The variability of risk within urban and rural classifications (e.g., suburban, inner-city) also requires consideration.

New brief temperament guidance program for parents of infants: A pilot evaluation

PROBLEM

Intensive temperament guidance programs have been successfully utilized to improve caregiver understanding of temperament and teach strategies for appropriately responding to temperament traits. However, the effects of providing brief psychoeducational temperament information to parents have not been previously examined.

METHODS

Mothers of 3-12-month infants (n = 35) participated in an intervention examining the impact of a comprehensive temperament brochure on temperament knowledge, program attitudes, and parent-child interactions.

FINDINGS

Mothers demonstrated increased temperament knowledge and were generally accepting of the program. Behavioral changes in mother-child interactions were observed. Sensitivity increased, and interactions shifted from more parent-directed to more balanced following the intervention. Infant gender functioned as a moderator of intervention effects for two mother-infant interaction dynamics. A significant increase in reciprocity was observed between mothers and boys, largely as a function of significantly lower levels of reciprocity preintervention. Child gender also interacted with directedness, in that interactions became more balanced for girls, but remained more mother-directed with boys. Finally, maternal education functioned as a moderator of tempo, as mothers in the higher education group shifted from slower to moderate tempo following the intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Promising results suggest the need for continued implementation and evaluation of brief temperament interventions.