ABSTRACT
This study employs an intra-national and cross-national, prospective and longitudinal design to examine age, gender, region, and country variation in group mean-level continuity and individual-differences stability of emotional availability in child-mother dyads. Altogether, 220 Argentine, Italian, and U.S. American metropolitan and rural residence mothers and their daughters and sons were observed at home when children were 5 and 20 months of age. Similar patterns of continuity and discontinuity of emotional availability from 5 to 20 months were observed across regions and countries, but not between genders. Stability of emotional availability from 5 to 20 months was moderate and similar across genders, regions, and countries. Universal and gender-specific developmental processes in child-mother emotional availability as revealed in intra- and cross-national study are discussed.
ABSTRACT
This study used a cross-national framework to examine country, region, and gender differences in emotional availability (EA), a prominent index of mutual socioemotional adaptation in the parent-child dyad. Altogether 220 Argentine, Italian, and U.S. mothers and their daughters and sons from both rural and metropolitan areas took part in home observations when the children were 20 months old. In terms of country, Italian mothers were more sensitive and optimally structuring, and Italian children were more responsive and involving, than Argentine and U.S. dyads. In terms of region, rural mothers were more intrusive than metropolitan mothers, and boys from metropolitan areas were more responsive than boys from rural areas. In terms of gender, mothers of girls were more sensitive and optimally structuring than mothers of boys, and daughters were more responsive and involving than sons. Understanding how country, region, and gender influence EA exposes forces that shape child development, parent-infant interaction, and family systems.
