Cognitive and socioemotional caregiving in developing countries

Child Dev. 2012 Jan-Feb;83(1):46-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01673.x.

Abstract

Enriching caregiving practices foster the course and outcome of child development. This study examined 2 developmentally significant domains of positive caregiving-cognitive and socioemotional-in more than 127,000 families with under-5 year children from 28 developing countries. Mothers varied widely in cognitive and socioemotional caregiving and engaged in more socioemotional than cognitive activities. More than half of mothers played with their children and took them outside, but only a third or fewer read books and told stories to their children. The GDP of countries related to caregiving after controlling for life expectancy and education. The majority of mothers report that they do not leave their under-5s alone. Policy and intervention recommendations are elaborated.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child Rearing
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition*
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Data Collection
  • Developing Countries*
  • Educational Status
  • Emotions*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Language Development
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mothers / education
  • Parenting / psychology*
  • Socialization*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult