Poster group
Details of individual items:
poster
Ujiie(1997) found that the expression patterns of negative emotion suchas tone of crying voices were different between Japanese and Americaninfants at 11-months under stress. Japanese infants directed crying voicesto their mothers whereas very rare in American infants. This result suggestthat the process of emotion regulation such as infants' strategies ofemotion regulation and mothers' attempts to modulate infants' negativeemotion would be different between Japanese and American mother-infantdyads. Ujiie speculated that Japanese infants tended to regulate theiremotion in a manner of depending on mothers and American infants tended toregulate in more autonomic way. However it has not conducted cross-culturalcomparison of infants' strategies of emotion regulation and mothers'modulation of infants' negative emotion between Japanese and Americanmother-infant dyads. In this study, infants' strategies of emotionregulation and mothers' behaviors in stressful laboratory situations wereobserved and conducted cross-cultural comparisons between Japanese andAmerican mother-infant dyads. The participants were 21 Japanese (10 boys and 11 girls) and 29American (14 boys and 15 girls) 11-months infants and their mothers. Theyparticipated cross-cultural research project of emotional expressions using'Growling Gorilla (GG)' and 'Gentle Arm Restraint (AR)' (Camras et. al.,1998). In this study, the participants were observed after sessions of GGand AR. In Japanese sample, 21 (10 boys and 11 girls) were available fortest in both sessions and in American sample, 20 (10 boys and 10 girls) wereavailable for test in GG and 23 (10 boys and 13 girls) in AR. Theobservation sessions were lasting almost 30 seconds. Every 5 seconds,infants' emotion regulation strategies (self-comforting, manipulation ofobjects, proximity/contact seeking with mother, proximity/contactmaintaining with mothers, gesture, and other-directed behavior) were ratedas being present or absent. Mothers' behaviors (distance with infant,verbalization, smile, caring, physical contact with infant, stimulating byobjects, and no response) were also rated every 5 seconds as present orabsent except distance with infant (proximal or distant) and verbalization(facilitating oriented, soothing oriented or others). Results were as follow: In GG, Japanese infants showed moreproximity/contact seeking with mothers and less gesture than Americaninfants. Japanese mothers showed more stimulating by objects and smile andless no response to infants' signals. In AR, Japanese infants showed lessmanipulation of objects and more other-directed behaviors. Japanese mothersshowed less no response to infants' signals. In both situations, Japanesemothers showed more soothing oriented verbalization and less otherverbalization. Although only boys, Japanese mothers tended to keep inproximity of infants than American mothers in GG. These results indicate that Japanese infants tended to regulate theiremotion by depending on mothers, whereas American infants did not showdependent manner of regulation to their mothers. On the other hand, mothers'behaviors seem to facilitate infants' manner of regulation to their mothers.The results of this study indicate that emotion regulation might beunderstood in the relational context.
poster
Researchers, particularly in the field of attachment research, have notedsimilarities between the characteristics of sensitive caregiving in parentsand non-familial child care providers, and the functions that securerelationships serve both at home and in child care. However, most studiesbase their focus and outcomes on constructs from attachment literaturewithout considering the larger context of the child-caregiver relationship.With recent increase in child care provisions in Japan, children mayexperience changes not only in custodial care dependent on adult-childratio and group size but also in the quality of care and the relationshipsthat form between child and caregiver. While the importance of sensitiveand responsive caregiving to the development of emotional security andsocial competence in infants and toddlers has been well-documented inWestern child development literature (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall,1978; Raikes, 1996; Kontos & Wilcox-Herzog, 1997) and while recent studieshave begun to investigate more closely non-familial caregiver and childrelationships (Elicker & Fortner-Wood, 1995; Hamilton & Howes, 1992;Howes, Hamiliton and Philipsen, 1998; Pianta, 1997; Raikes, 1993), very fewstudies are available with a focus on relationships within Japanesenon-familial caregiving systems.This study focuses on the context of the child-caregiver relationship in aJapanese child care setting and the process through which caregivers, inparticular, those who are assigned as 'key caregivers' and newly enrolledinfants and toddlers build relationships. Fifteen Japanese child-caregiverdyads participated in the study. Children ranged in age from 7 weeks to 29months. Child behaviors, caregiver-child interactions, caregiver behaviorsand perceptions, and the context surrounding the relationship were observedand analyzed through multiple methods of investigation (Waters AttachmentQ-sort (Revision 3.0), 1987; Pianta STRS, 1996; videotaped observations;weekly caregiver questionnaires) during the children's first 15 weeks inthe program.Preliminary results revealed positive changes over time in children'sattachment behaviors toward their key caregiver and in caregivers'perceptions of their relationships with the children. Qualitative analysisof weekly observations of each dyad also revealed a common pattern ofdevelopment across time. During the first several weeks, much of theinteractions between caregiver and child consisted of adult initiatedphysical contact. After the first five to seven weeks, physical contact andinteractions began to include other adults as well as peers, moving fromadult-initiated to child-initiated contacts. By the end of the study (weeks14-15), there appeared to be a predominance of peer interactions andphysical contact initiated by the child as the level of contact (more orless intimate) returned to the original level observed during weeks 1 and2. Results are discussed in terms of the larger context of thechild-caregiver relationship (i.e., structure and goals of caregivingenvironment, role of caregivers and peers as defined in caregiving context)and in comparison to attachment literature.
poster
Japan, similar to the United States, is experiencing an increase in demandfor child care as parents, primarily mothers who were previously able tochoose to stay at home, are forced to continue in or enter into the workforce in order to meet economic and financial demands. In the last fouryears, Japan has experienced a steady increase in the number of childrenbetween 0 and 2 years of age enrolled in day care, starting atapproximately 466,000 children in 1995 to 584, 000 in 1999 (ZenkokuHoikudantai Renrakukai, 1999). With high demand for quality care in bothcountries and a greater dependency of families on such caregiving systems,there is a need for closer examination of children's experiences at such ayoung age within a new caregiving environment. This study comparescaregiver-child relationships in Japan and the U.S. and within the naturalcontext of the caregiving environment to determine the parameters of such arelationship. Little is known about neither the child's contribution, northe process that both child and caregiver experience together andindependently during the development of this relationship. A cross-culturalcomparison of relationships within each context - Japan and U.S. - may helpto determine general characteristics of this relationship as well ascharacteristics specific to each culture.A total of 35 caregiver-child dyads participated in this study - 20 U.S.and 15 Japan dyads. Dyads were pre-determined by the child care site whereeach adult had been assigned the role as 'key caregiver' to each child.Children ranged in age from 7 weeks to 29 months. Child and adultcharacteristics, adult-child interactions, and the context surrounding therelationship were observed and analyzed through multiple methods ofinvestigation during the first 15 weeks of their relationship (WatersAttachment Q-sort (Revision 3.0), 1987; Pianta STRS, 1996; videotapedobservations; weekly caregiver questionnaires). The primary focus of thisstudy was to determine patterns of behavior across the 15-week period andamong caregiver-child dyads.Preliminary results from this study indicated that development of therelationship appeared to proceed in the same positive direction althoughinitial characteristics of the relationship appeared to be different at thestart of the study. On the part of both child and caregiver, U.S. dyadsinitially showed lower levels of physical contact (less intimate) with lessproximity while Japan dyads showed high levels of physical contact (moreintimate) and greater proximity. However, while the level of interactionsvaried initially, the relationship reached a similar point after 15 weeks.Pianta STRS results reflected similar caregiver perceptions of therelationship at week 15 and showed no significant differences between U.S.and Japan caregivers in their perception of the relationship with their'key' child. Caregiver comments also reflected a positive representation ofand a steady change in their experiences with their key child. While thisstudy presents data from one U.S. and one Japan child care center, they areboth representative of the styles of caregiving available in each country.Insights gained from this study guide suggestions for future research ofconstructs specific to non-familial caregiver-child relationships as wellas child care and training practices in each culture.
poster
The way a mother (or an adult) responds to an infant in a negativeemotion state (fuss or cry) depends on many factors, such as the context inwhich the state arises, the intensity of the emotion, the state of themother, and so on. Comparison of mother-infant emotion communicationshould pay close attention to these detail conditions. However, typicalinteraction sequences seem to show a limited range of variations, and theadult's response tends to conform to the cultural script concerningemotion communication in the soceity. These features are important inunderstanding not only the emotion development of the infants, but also thetypical emotional styles of adults in a particular society. This study focuses on the Japanese mothers' response upon theirreturn to their fussing or crying infants after a brief separation (30seconds) in the lab stiuation. 42 pairs of mothers and their infants of10 months who were participants of a longitudinal study served as thesubjects for this study. The separation episode, the last part of anobservation session, consisted of the mother's leaving the infant alone for30 seconds, returing to, and interacting with the infant. Both the mother'sand the infant's behaviors were corded and analysed using the follwoingcategories: Mother $B%f (Js 1)actions, 2)utterances, 3)degree of affect attunementto the infant; Infant $B%f (Js 1)degree of distress during separation and upon reunion, 2)interactive behaviors. Results showed that (1) More than 50 % ofinfants showed intense distress during separation, and 33.3% of theseinfants remained in intense to medium distress after reunion, (2) Fourtypes of mother $B%f (Js utterances were observed upon reunion with fussing and/orcrying infants (labeling infant feeling, apologizing and excusing, assuringand/or soothing, and distracting by asking questions), (3)68.8 % of motherswhose infants showed some degree of distress were observed to show affectattunement, (4) Twelve mothers (28.8%) made apologies and/or excuses totheir infants who showed some degrees of distress, (5) Eight of the ninemothers (88.8%) who made apologies and/or excuses showed medium to highdegrees of affect attunement during reunion. In contrast with what seems to be more typical of Western (e.g.American Caucasian) mothers $B%f (J style of response (cf. eg. Gottman,Katz, & Hooven, 1997; Ujiie, 1997), Japanese mothers $B%f (J responses in accepting responsibility for the infants emotional state, and by imitating the infants $B%f (J tone of voice were interpreted as showing a cultural script concerning emotionalcommunication which aims at regulating the infants $B%f (J emotion by first accepting, or even encouraging crying or fussing. The higher frequency of distressafter separation and the persistant distress after reunion were consideredas resulted from this style of emotion communication between mothers andinfants in Japan. The typical Japanese mothers $B%f (J response style was speculated to have come from their being socialized in this way (generationtransmission). Future research is necessary to find out both thecross-cultural differences and to test the generation trasmissionhypothesis.
poster
Robert Myers (1992) points out that after decades of concentrated effort to combat disease and malnutrition, 12 of 13 infants born will survive to age one. This is a result of our success at providing vaccinations, immunizations and adequate sanitary conditions so as to prolong life. However, despite having met some basic physiological needs, many children continue to live in less than adequate environments. Today we must address new issues such as the identification of psychosocial phenomena that facilitate optimal child development. This leads to questions aimed at understanding the role infants' social partners play in the process of child development. Many developmental psychologists and psychological anthropologists suggest that social partners, through their delicate verbal and nonverbal interactive cues, influence how children construct particular representations of the world. That is, through the interactions with people in their environment, infants begin to learn about social expectations and cultural values. Studies showing differences in child care practices between cultural communities would help illustrate how caretakers provide a framework in which they organize their infant's experience with the world. By identifying how a child interacts with the social world, we may better understand the constructive role social factors play in the formation of individual psychological functions. In this study, fifty-one San Jose, Costa Rican primiparous mothers and fifty-one primiparous Boston, U.S.A. mothers were observed in their homes during routine interaction with their 6 month old infants. The purpose of the observations was to document the variation in caregiving style, infant and caregiver affect, and other dimentions of social interaction. All infants and mothers met a set of health and socio-demographic criteria to minimize the effect of confounding risk factors that could obscure ethnic and cultural contributions to caregiving profiles and infant adaptation. Costa Rica and the United States make for an attractive comparative set in which to investigate mother- infant interaction in that both are characterized by a high literacy rate, low infant mortality rates and high life expectancy-at-birth to suggest excellent education and health conditions. By design, the Costa Rican sample included mothers with a range of exposure to schooling. Boston and San Jose mothers were videotaped interacting with their infants in their homes during routine daily activity and later coded to capture the affective expressions and interactive behaviors shared between mothers and their 6 month old infants. Boston mothers were found to be more didactic mentors with their infants as evidenced by a greater likelihood of shared social involvement, joint object engagement and a positive emotional expression than Costa Rican mothers. In general, the Boston mother tended to be active, upbeat, positive and more likely to stimulate her child with conversational narratives and/or novel objects and toys compared to the Costa Rican mother. However, as LeVine has found in other communities, the 'Bostonian' pattern of maternal behavior was echoed by the Costa Rican mothers who had more schooling.