Developmental consequences of early parenting experiences: self-recognition and self-regulation in three cultural communities

Child Dev. 2004 Nov-Dec;75(6):1745-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00814.x.

Abstract

This study relates parenting of 3-month-old children to children's self-recognition and self-regulation at 18 to 20 months. As hypothesized, observational data revealed differences in the sociocultural orientations of the 3 cultural samples' parenting styles and in toddlers' development of self-recognition and self-regulation. Children of Cameroonian Nso farmers who experience a proximal parenting style develop self-regulation earlier, children of Greek urban middle-class families who experience a distal parenting style develop self-recognition earlier, and children of Costa Rican middle-class families who experience aspects of both distal and proximal parenting styles fall between the other 2 groups on both self-regulation and self-recognition. Results are discussed with respect to their implications for culturally informed developmental pathways.

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Child Behavior / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Culture*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Parenting / ethnology*
  • Parenting / psychology
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Recognition, Psychology*
  • Self Concept*
  • Self Efficacy*