Development of the Culturally Affirming and Responsive Experiences (CARE) Measure: Observing Responsiveness and Ethnic-Racial Cultural Socialization in Mother–Child Interactions

The existing literature on the importance of maternal responsiveness and the growing body of literature supporting early ethnic-racial cultural socialization highlight the need for an observational measure of how they co-occur during mother–child interactions. This study presents the development and initial validation of the Culturally Affirming and Responsive Experiences (CARE) measure, an observational measure of the presence and quality of responsiveness and ethnic-racial cultural socialization within early mother–child interactions. Pilot study results with 103 racially and ethnically diverse mother–child dyads demonstrated initial reliability and validity of the CARE measure. Implications of applying the CARE measure to early mother–child interactions to assess quality of responsiveness and ethnic-racial cultural socializations are discussed.