Mother-infant interaction in cultural context: a study of Nicaraguan and Italian families.

Although a common goal for parents is to promote their children’s successful development in a respective society, there is considerable cross-cultural variation in the beliefs parents hold about children, families, and themselves as parents. Previous research suggests that in traditional rural areas across the world, parents highly appreciate interrelatedness in their conceptions of relationships and competence, whereas in urban settings of Western industrialized societies, parents seem to promote independent parent–child relationships from early on. The purpose of this study is to compare conceptions of parenting and mother-infant interactions in two cultural contexts that may be expected to hold different beliefs about parent-child relationships: Nicaraguan farmer families and middle-class Italian families. Fifty-six mothers from central Nicaragua (n = 26) and northern Italy (n = 30) and their infants aged 0-14 months participated in the study. Mothers were interviewed regarding their childrearing beliefs and behaviors, and were videotaped interacting with their infants during a free play session. Maternal responses were qualitatively analyzed using a thematic approach; maternal behaviors were coded into one of the following categories: social play, object play, motor stimulation, verbal stimulation, and face-to-face interaction. Findings indicated that: 1) Nicaraguan mothers emphasized interdependence and connectedness to other people in their socialization goals, whereas Italian mothers placed greater focus on childrearing strategies consistent with a more individualistic orientation; 2) Nicaraguan mothers exhibited a higher overall frequency of behaviors related to motor stimulation and face-to-face interaction, whereas Italian mothers were more likely to engage in social play, object play, and to emit a greater overall number of verbal behaviors towards their infants during the free-play session. Our results suggest that parents’ conceptions of childcare reflect culturally regulated norms and customs that are instantiated in parental behavior and contribute to the structuring of parent-child interactions from the earliest months of life, thus shaping infant and children’s developmental pathways. Implications for theory on the psychology of family relationships as well as for clinical practice are discussed.