Video observations of maternal sensitivity in urban and Rural Iran: an exploratory study.

Aiming to contribute to the cross-cultural understanding of the nature and meaning of the sensitivity construct, this exploratory study observed 26 mothers and their 18-60-month-old children in rural (15) and urban Iran (11) for 30 minutes of free interaction in the home context. This first study to use video observations of parenting in Iran showed that mothers were generally comfortable with being filmed, intercoder reliability could be established for the Ainsworth sensitivity scale, and the full range of sensitivity scores was observed. Qualitative descriptions of representative interactions are provided to illustrate stylistic differences between rural and urban mothers. Urban mothers tended to engage in verbal interactions centered around toys, whereas rural mothers and children often engaged in chores related to the family's livelihoods such as tending animals, and generally talked less. Both sensitivity and insensitivity were observed in playful and chore-based activities.

Video observations of maternal sensitivity in urban and rural Iran.

There is evidence that rural versus urban residence is a salient factor in predicting parenting practices. In what is most likely the very first video-observation study of parenting ever to come out of Iran, mothers and their 18-60-month-old children were observed for 30 min of free interaction at their homes in urban (n = 11) and rural (n = 15) Iran. None of the mothers made any comments about being filmed, none expressed insecurities about what to do, and only four mothers looked at the camera more than once or twice. Compared to rural mothers, urban mothers showed significantly higher levels of verbal expression, warmth, and doing chores as an activity during the observations. However, this did not translate to significant group differences mothers in sensitivity, non-interference, and general involvement with the child. The discussion focuses on different modalities of expressing sensitivity in urban versus rural mothers in Iran.