Infant and Child Development最新文献

This qualitative study explores challenges foreign mothers face in caring for newborns in Alexandra Township, South Africa, from the perspective of Early Childhood Community Practitioners (ECCPs). Based on 21 observational reports written by ECCPs and 3 triangulation interviews, the study explores practitioner accounts of specific vulnerabilities and their impact on the ability of foreign mothers to respond to their infants. Using a vulnerability framework, the study shows three themes related to the experiences of 21 foreign mothers aged between 23 and 38, the majority being from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, that practitioners associated with mothers' ability to take care of their babies: experiences of structural and systemic challenges, challenges related to social and caregiving support, and resilience narratives. The interplay of different vulnerabilities shapes parenting infants at particular moments in time. The study concludes that ECCPs associate the parenting capacity of foreign mothers with the emotional toll of their experiences and the uncertainty of social support.

The applied field of “Global Early Childhood Development”, developed in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised Rich and Democratic) settings, asserts universal frameworks and understandings of early childhood development pathways. This field advocates for the roll out of parenting interventions aimed at improving child development outcomes, predominantly for children living in the Majority World. This article examines areas of divergence between knowledge about early child development and infant rearing from this applied academic field of “Global Early Childhood Development” and local knowledge in Alexandra Township, a multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic area in Johannesburg, South Africa. Based on thematic analysis of 107 home visit reports, and six triangulating interviews with frontline care workers who wrote the reports, this study identifies four areas of divergence between Global Early Childhood Knowledge and local knowledge, namely differences in knowledge about (1) the value of discriminate and responsive caregiving, (2) whether or not infants are sensing and sentient, (3) the value of exclusive breast-feeding and infant-led feeding, and the (4) causes and treatment for developmental delays and infant sickness. These findings highlight the imperative need for including diverse conceptualisations of child development and addressing structural and contextual influences on child development in Majority World intervention design and implementation.

Cultural learning environments and gender roles play a key role in shaping children's development, particularly regarding their social and emotional skills. However, most work on this topic relies on methods that overlook lived experiences and assume high participant literacy, which may not apply to Majority World contexts. To address these issues, this study qualitatively explored maternal beliefs about gender roles and their potential influence on children's socio-emotional development in two distinct Ugandan locations. We conducted focus groups with Ugandan mothers from a rural (Budongo, N = 22) and urban (Mbarara, N = 27) setting to explore common themes in maternal experiences and attitudes towards the socialisation of their infants and children. Inductive thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) women's role as socially contingent, (2) men should, but do not, (3) hiding negative emotions for self-protection, and (4) emotion as a somatic experience. These themes and their relation to child socio-emotional development, examined through their children's behaviour, are discussed with regard to current literature on cultural learning and maternal attitudes towards parenting.

The study investigated joint action performance and joint unintentional transfer of learning in two cohorts of elementary school children. Thirty-two first-graders (mean age 6.6 ± 1.22 years; 22 females; all White) and 32 second-graders (mean age 7.8 ± 0.27 years; 15 females; all White) performed a Joint Simon task before and after performing a joint spatial compatibility task in which stimulus position was mapped incompatibly to the response position. We assessed whether, prior to training, children displayed a reliable Joint Simon effect (JSE), indicative of co-representation, and whether age-related differences emerged in its magnitude. Furthermore, we assessed whether the effect was affected by a jointly performed practice. Both age groups showed a significant JSE that was eliminated by the joint incompatible practice. No significant age-related differences emerged. Our results indicate that 6- to 8-year-old children are influenced by the presence of another agent and suggest that the knowledge acquired during joint task performance may automatically and unintentionally transfer to a subsequent similar task.

Individual differences in mathematical skills emerge early and are influenced by a range of cognitive and environmental factors. One of these is the Home Mathematics Environment (HME), which includes adult-child mathematics talk. Nevertheless, large variations in methods used to investigate and code adult-child mathematics talk exist. We conducted a pre-registered systematic review (N = 108) of the methods used to code adult-child mathematics talk in children aged 8 years or younger. We identified nine different categories of coding methods. A multi-level meta-analysis with studies additionally reporting children's mathematics skills (291 effect sizes) revealed a small but significant correlation between adult-child mathematics talk and children's mathematics skills (r = 0.072). This was significantly moderated by coding category, implying that some aspects of the interaction are more important than others. This review highlights different methods for coding adult-child mathematical talk, enabling researchers to make informed decisions about how to code interactions.

Parenting programs around the world target components of the “Nurturing Care Framework” (NCF)—including responsive caregiving and early learning—to improve early childhood development (ECD). However, it is difficult to optimally design culturally relevant programs without knowing how these components align with local cultural beliefs. This study explored how caregivers understand and encourage early learning and responsive caregiving, and analyzed how this aligns with existing conceptualizations from the NCF. We conducted individual qualitative interviews (n = 17) and one focus group (n = 8) with caregivers (18–62 years, 88% female) of children under 5 years of age in Cajamarca, Andean Peru. Caregivers discussed priorities, roles, learning and play, challenges, and support. We used the Framework Method for analysis and found considerable alignment between caregivers' perceptions and the NCF, as well as some culturally grounded factors. We provide recommendations to ensure that programs reflect local caregiving strengths and address areas of opportunity.