Mother’s knowledge and infant development in two South Tyrolean cultural groups

Journal title RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA
Author/s Livia Taverna, Marta Tremolada, Sabrina Bonichini
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language Italian Pages 22 P. 257-278 File size 284 KB
DOI 10.3280/RIP2017-002005
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The study aims to examine whether mothers of two different cultural groups living together in South Tyrol, Italian (I, N = 69) and German (G, N = 69), differ with respect to knowledge of infant developmental milestones. A second purpose of the present work is to understand if possible differences on maternal knowledge could account for diverse levels of mastery on adaptive behaviours. Results show that mothers of the two cultural and linguistic groups did not differ on knowledge of infant milestones, while significant differences emerge in the development of daily living skills and socialization between Italian and German children ( G > I).

Keywords: Knowledge of developmental milestones, culture, adaptive behav-iours, daily living skills, socialization.

  1. ASTAT, Istituto Provinciale di Statistica (2006). Barometro linguistico in Alto Adige. Uso della lingua ed identità linguistica in provincia di Bolzano. Bolzano: La Badoniana.
  2. Balboni, G., & Pedrabissi, L. (2003). Adattamento italiano delle Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Sparrow, S.S, Balla, D.A., & Cicchetti, D.V). O.S. Organizzazioni Speciali, Firenze.
  3. Barrueco, S., Lòpez, M.L., & Miles, J.C. (2007). Parenting Behaviors in the first year of life: A national comparison of Latinos and other Cultural Communities. Journal of Latinos and Education, 6(3), 253-265.
  4. Bavolek, S., (1989). Assessing and treating highrisk parenting attitudes. Early Child Development and Care, 42(1), 99-112. DOI: 10.1080/0300443890420107
  5. Benasich, A.A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1996). Maternal Attitude and Knowledge of Child Rearing: Association with Family and Child Outcomes. Child Development, 67(3), 1186-1205.
  6. Bornstein, M.H., Giusti, Z., Leach, D.B., & Venuti, P. (2005). Maternal reports of adaptive behaviors in young children: Urban rural and gender comparisons in Italy and United States. Infant and Child Development, 14(4), 403-424.
  7. Bornstein, M.H., & Cote L. (2004). „Who is sitting across from me?“ Immigrant mothers’ knowledge of parenting and children’s development. Pediatrics, 114(5), 557-564.
  8. Bornstein, M.H., Cote L., Haynes O.M., Hahn, C.S., & Park, Y. (2010). Parenting knowledge: Experiential and Sociodemographic Factors in European American mothers of young children. Developmental Psychology, 46(6), 1677-1693.
  9. Bornstein, M.H., Tamis-Le Monda, C.S., Pascual, L., Haynes, O.M., Painter, K., Galperin, C., et al. (1996). Ideas about parenting in Argentina, France, and the United States. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 19(2), 347-367.
  10. Brislin, R.W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In H.C. Triandis, & J.W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (vol.2, 389-444). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
  11. Brislin, R.W. (1986). The wording and translation of research instruments. In W.J. Lonner & J.W. Berry (Eds.), Fields methods in cross-cultural research (137-164). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  12. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2. Auflage). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  13. Conrad, B., Gross, D., Fogg, L., & Ruchala, P. (1992). Maternal confidence, Knowledge, and quality of mother-toddler interactions: A preliminary study. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13(4), 353-362.
  14. Dichtelmiller, M., Meisels, S.J., Plunkett, J.W., Bozynski, M.E.A., Claflin, C., & Mangelsdorf, S.C. (1992). The relationship of parental knowledge to the development of extremely low birth weight infants. Journal of Early Intervention, 16(3), 210-220.
  15. Elder, G.H., & Shanahan, M.J. (2007). The Life Course and Human Development. Theoretical Models of Human Development. In W. Damon & R.M. Lerner (a cura di), Handbook of Child Psychology I (939-991). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  16. Epstein, A.S. (1980). Assessing the child development information needed by adolescent parents with very young children. (Final Rep., Grant n° 90-C-1341). Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education & Welfare.
  17. Eshbaugh, E.M. (2006). Adolescent mothers and depression. Predictors of resilience and risk through the toddler years. Journal of Family Social Work, 10(3), 13-29.
  18. Ford, D.H., & Lerner, R.M. (1992). Teorie e sistemi evolutivi. Un approccio integrato. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  19. Goodnow, J.J., Cashmore, J., Cotton, S., & Knight, R. (1984). Mothers’ developmental timetables in two cultural groups. International Journal of Psycho-logy, 19 (1-4), 193-205. DOI: 10.1080/00207598408247526
  20. Gutierrez, J., & Sameroff, A. (1990). Determinats of complexity in Mexican-American and Anglo-American mothers’ conceptions of child development. Child Development, 61(2), 384-394.
  21. Huang, K., Caughy, M.O., Genevro, J.L., & Miller, T.L. (2005). Maternal knowledge of child development and quality of parenting among European-American, African-American and Hispanic mothers. Applied Developmental Psychology, 26(2), 149-170.
  22. Keller, H., Mranda, D., & Guada, G. (1984). The naive theory of the infant and some maternal attitudes: A two country study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(2), 165-179. DOI: 10.1177/0022002184015002005
  23. MacPhee, D. (1981). Manual: Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory. Unpublished Manuscript. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
  24. Miller, S.A. (1988). Parent’s beliefs about their children’s cognitive development. Child Development, 59(2), 259-285. DOI: 10.2307/1130311
  25. Morris, P.A. (1999). Toddler development in lowincome families: The role of family structure. Dissertation Thesis number: AAM9838790.
  26. Ninio, A. (1979). The naïve theory of the infant and other maternal attitudes in two groups in Israel. Child Development, 50(4), 976-980. DOI: 10.2307/1129322
  27. Ninio, A. (1988). The effects of cultural background, sex, and parenthood on beliefs about the timetable of cognitive development in infancy. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 34(4), 369-388.
  28. Nunnally, J.C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd edn.). New York: McGraw Hill.
  29. Pachter, L.M., & Dworkin, P.H. (1997). Maternal Expectations about normal child development in 4 cultural groups. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 151(11), 1144-1150.
  30. Parks, P.L., & Smeriglio, V.L. (1983). Parenting knowledge among adolescent mothers. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 4(3), 163-167. DOI: 10.1016/S0197-0070(83)80369-6
  31. Parks, P.L., & Smeriglio, V.L. (1986). Relationships among parenting knowledge, quality of stimulation in the home and infant development. Family Relations, 35(3), 411-416. DOI: 10.2307/584369
  32. Pianta, R.C. (2001). La relazione bambino-insegnante. Aspetti evolutivi e clinici. Milano: Raffaello Cortina Editore.
  33. Reich, S. (2005). What do mothers know? Maternal knowledge of child development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26(2), 143-156.
  34. Sameroff, A.J. (1989). Sviluppo e psicopatologia. In Sameroff, A.J., Emde, R.N. (a cura di), I disturbi nelle relazioni nella prima infanzia. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
  35. Savage, S.L., & Gauvain, M. (1998). Parental beliefs and children’s everyday planning in European-American and Latino families. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 19(3), 319-340. DOI: 10.1016/S0193-3973(99)80043-4
  36. Smith, T.K. (2002). The relationship between knowledge, attributions and behavior in adolescent mothers: Implications for child outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International. B. The Sciences and Engineering, 62(11-B), 5412.
  37. Sparrow, S.S., Balla, D.A., & Cicchetti, D.V. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. American Guidance Service: Circles Pines, MN.
  38. Stern, M., & Alvarez, A. (1992). Knowledge of child development and caretaking attitudes: A comparison of pregnant, parenting, and nonpregnant adolescents. Family Relations, 41(3), 297-302.
  39. Stevens, G., & Shi, L. (2002). Racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of primary care for children. Journal of Family Practice, 51(6), 573-578.
  40. Stevens, J.H. Jr. (1984). Child development knowledge and parenting skill. Family Relations, 33(2), 237-244. DOI: 10.2307/583789
  41. Taira, D., Safran, G., Seto, T., Rogers, W., Inui, J., Montgomery, J., & Tarlov, A. (2001). Do patient assessment of primary care differ by patient ethnicity? Health Services Research, 36(6), 1059-1072.
  42. Tamis-LeMonda, C.S., Shannon, J., & Spellman, M. (2002). Lowincome adolescent mothers’ knowledge about domains of child development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23(1-2), 88-103.
  43. Tassé, M.J., & Craig, E.M. (1999). Critical issues in the crosscultural assessment of adaptive behaviour. In R.L. Schalock, Adaptive behaviour and its measurement (161-184). Washington, DC: American Association on Mental Retardation.
  44. Vallerand, R.J. (1989). Vers une méthodologie de validation transculturelle de questionnaires psychologiques: Implications pour la recherché en langue française. Psychologie Canadienne, 30(4), 662-680.
  45. Van de Vijver, F.J.R, & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis for crosscultural research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  46. Veddovi, M., Kenny, D.T., Gibson, F., Bowen, J., & Starte, D. (2001). The relationship between depressive symptoms following premature birth, mothers‘ coping style, and knowledge of infant development. Journal of reproductive and Infant Psychology, 19(4), 313-323. DOI: 10.1080/0264683012720
  47. Vukelich, C., & Kliman, D.S. (1985). Mature and teenage mothers’ infants growth expectations and use of child development information sources. Family Relations, 34(2), 189-196. DOI: 10.2307/583891
  48. Wacharasin, C., Barnard, K.E., & Spieker, S.J. (2003). Factors affecting toddler cognitive development in low-income families. Implications for practioners. Infants and Young Children, 16(2), 175-181.
  49. Williams P.D., Williams A.R., Lopez M., & Tayko N.P. (2000). Mothers’ developmental expectations for young children in the Philippines. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 37(4), 291-301.
  50. Zepeda, M., & Espinosa, M. (1988). Parental knowledge of children’s behavioral capabilities: A study of low-income parents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 10(2), 149-159. DOI: 10.1177/07399863880102005
  51. Zolotor, A.J., Burchinal, M., Skinner, D., & Rosenthal, M. (2008). Maternal psychological adjustment and knowledge of infant development as predictors of home safety practices in rural low-income communities. Pediatrics, 121(6), 1668-1675.

  • Parents’ Willingness and Perception of Children’s Autonomy as Predictors of Greater Independent Mobility to School Ester Ayllón, Nieves Moyano, Azucena Lozano, María-Jesús Cava, in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health /2019 pp.732
    DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16050732

Livia Taverna, Marta Tremolada, Sabrina Bonichini, Conoscenze materne e sviluppo del bambino in due gruppi culturali altoatesini in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 2/2017, pp 257-278, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2017-002005