Interactional regulations between mothers and their infants during the first 3 months of life. Develpmental trajectories in Cameroonian Nso farmers and German middle-class families

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Heidi Keller
• Subject Area: Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Term: from 2004 to 2007
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5420110

Research on parent-child interactions during the early months of life ist mainly based on Western studies focusing on the face-to-face context and behavioral regulations within this context. The present study is aimed at analyzing parent-infant interactions longitudinally in two distinctly different cultural communities: West African Nso farmers (N=26) and German middle-class families (N=20). These two cultural communities can be regarded as prototypically representing interdependent and independent sociocultural orientations. Weekly video recordings of mother-infant interactional situations were assessed during the first three months of infants' life. Besides the face-to-face regulation, also the development of body contact and body stimulation and the warmth and contingency towards positive and negative infant signals will be examined. Moreover the maternal infant-directed language during these interactional situations will be analyzed in therms of its cultural codes. A culturally sensitive definition of interactional quality for the Nso sample will be developed.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants