Mothers’ feelings about infants’ negative emotions and mother-infant interactions among the Gamo of Southern Ethiopia

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Parents’ exposure to stressful ecosocial situations, like inadequate resources, is linked to parents’ perceptions of infants’ fussing and crying and less sensitive caregiving. However, studies supporting these findings predominantly come from Western contexts of parenting and infant care. Ecosocial situations may have different effects on parenting and infants in distinct cultural contexts. In this study, the link between Gamo mothers’ expressions of stress about their infants’ negative emotional displays (N = 29 mothers and infants) and mother-infant interactions was investigated. Mothers who expressed stress in response to their infants’ negative emotions demonstrated fewer interactions overall with their infants compared to mothers who did not express stress. Regression analyses showed that mothers who did not express stress had infants that fussed and cried more in their presence than infants of mothers who did not express stress, albeit insignificant. These results are discussed in the context of Gamo infancy in Southern Ethiopia.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftInfant Behavior and Development
Vol/bind54
Sider (fra-til)22-36
Antal sider15
ISSN0163-6383
DOI
StatusUdgivet - feb. 2019
Eksternt udgivetJa

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) ( 5T32HD007109-37 ) for Lauren R. Bader. The W. K. McClure Scholarship for the Study of World Affairs. The Bill and Sylvia Moore Fund . Scholarly Activity and Research Incentive (SARIF) funds, and Strategic and Transformative Investments in Research (STIR) funds from the University of Tennessee. We have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Inc.

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