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International Baby Study

The Socialization of Infants' State, Attention, and Affect
Supported in part by NIH Grant R01 HD38357-01
Co-Investigators: Sara Harkness, Dymphna van den Boom,
Douglas A. Granger, and Peter Molenaar

The general goal of this study has been to expand our knowledge of the early development of state control (including arousal, attentional, and affective behaviors), especially as it is shaped by culturally specific caretaking practices.  In brief, we have capitalized on a natural experiment created by distinct cultural patterns of parental practices in two different communities, each from an educated, economically advanced democracy: the Netherlands and the USA. Fundamental differences in cultural beliefs, their expression in daily caretaking, and some developmental consequences were tentatively identified in our prior published research (Harkness, Super, & van Tijen, 2000; Super, Harkness, van Tijen, van der Vlugt, Fintelman, & Dijkstra, 1996).  The current proposal was designed to confirm these findings and to examine further the developmental involvement of autonomic and endocrine systems.  Parallel studies were carried out in Seville, Spain (Prof. Jesus Palacios and Blanca Huitrón) and Padua, Italy (Prof. Giovanna Axia and Ughetta Moscardino), where earlier research indicated other cultural contrasts of theoretical significance for understanding early development.  Thus in general, the present study evaluates the hypothesis that culturally organized caretaking constitutes a key organizer of early self-regulation, a foundation of children's later performance at home, in school, and with peers.  Preliminary results confirm all our expectations and provide a few unexpected discoveries as well.

Below is a photo of the US, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish research teams from a coordinating meeting in Padua, in February 2003.

(Photo-coming soon)

 

Publications

Aspects of these preliminary results have been reported at 24 international symposia and university colloquia; a listing of these is presented below.  We have one project publication in press, and are currently preparing three other manuscripts for publication - regarding early sleep patterns, dietary differences, and the role of Zeitgebers - as well as continuing data processing and analysis.

Publication and Presentations of Preliminary Findings

  1. Harkness, S.; Moscardino, U.; Blom, M. J. M.; Huitrón, B.; Vesely, C.; Johnston, C.; Zhu, C.; & Super, C. M. (in press). Mothers' ideas and practices related to infant development in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the US.  Journal of Developmental Processes .
  2. Super, C. M., Huitrón, B., Harkness, S., Axia, G., Palacios, J., Blom, M. J. M., Zylicz, P. O., Welles-Nyström, B. & Soriano, G.  (2006). Cultural influences on the correlates and stability of temperament in infancy.  Paper presented at the Occasional Temperament Conference, Providence, RI, October. 
  3. Blom, M. J. M.; Super, C. M.; Harkness, S.; & Granger, D. A.  (2006).  Culturally regulated effects on the early development of diurnal sleep and HPA-activity.  Paper presented in Symposium entitled "The cultural organization of rest, arousal, stimulation, and activity" (S. Harkness & J.-H. Rha, organizers) at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  4. Harkness, S.; Moscardino, U.; Blom, M. J. M.; Huitrón, B.; Vesely, C.; Johnston, C.; Zhu, C.; & Super, C. M.  (2006). Mothers' ideas and practices related to infant development in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the U.S.  Paper presented in Symposium entitled "The cultural organization of rest, arousal, stimulation, and activity" (S. Harkness & J.-H. Rha, organizers) at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  5. Londhe, R.; Ranade, N.; Blom, M. J. M.; Harkness, S.; & Super, C. M.  (2006). Sleep and activity patterns of American and Dutch infants.  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  6. Speirs, K. E.; Luck, R. G.; Blom, M. J. M.; Super, C. M.; & Harkness, S.  (2006). Infant arousal and stimulation: A comparison of the Netherlands and the United States.  Paper presented in Symposium entitled "The cultural organization of rest, arousal, stimulation, and activity" (S. Harkness & J.-H. Rha, organizers) at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  7. Super, C. M.; Harkness, S.; Rha, J.-H.; Huitrón, B.; & Blom, M. J. M. (2006).  The stability of infant reactivity in four cultural groups.   Paper presented in Symposium entitled "The cultural organization of rest, arousal, stimulation, and activity" (S. Harkness & J.-H. Rha, organizers) at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  8. Sutherland, M; Harkness, S; Vesely, C; Blom, M. J. M; Moscardino, U.; Huitrón, B.; Rha, J.-H.; Hyun, O-K.; Granger, D.; & Super, C. M.  (2006). Biological Markers of Maternal Stress and Mothers' Subjective Experience of Mood in the Postpartum Period.   Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Melbourne, Australia, July.
  9. Super, C. M.  (2006).  The cultural regulation of development.   Invited address to the Postgraduate Institute of Child Study, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. March.
  10. Super, C. M.  (2006). The developmental niche.   Invited presentation for Conférence Universitaire de Suisse Occidentale (CUSO) on "Ethnotheories in Education" (Pierre Dasen, organizer), Charmey, Switzerland. March.
  11. Super, C. M.  (2005). How culture structures early development.   Keynote address, 25th Conference of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. September.
  12. Harkness, S., Moscardino, U., Ros, R., Johnston, C., blom, M., & Super, C. M.  (2005).  Mother's ideas and practices related to infant stimulation in Italy, the Netherlands, and the US.   Paper presented in symposium on "Stimulation, Stress, and Culture," 25th Conference of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. September.
  13. Ros, R., Vesely, C., Blom, M., Russell, B., Harkness, S., Super, C. M., & Moscardino, U. (2005).  Biological markers of stress and mothers' subjective experiences of mood in the postpartum period.   Paper presented in symposium on "Stimulation, Stress, and Culture," 25th Conference of the Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. September.
  14. Russell, B. S., Huitrón, B., Blom, M. J. M., Ranade, N., Vesely, C. K., Harkness, S., & Super, C. M.  (2005).  Longitudinal links in maternal mood from 3 cultures:  trends in the Netherlands, Spain, and United States.   Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development.  Atlanta, GA.  March.
  15. Super, C. M. & Harkness, S. (2005).  The developmental niche in cross-cultural theory .  Invited presentations at Hannam University and Seoul National University, Korea. May.
  16. Korom, D.  Londhe, R., Blom, M. J. M., Huitrón, B., Harkness, S. & Super, C. M.  (2004). American, Dutch, and Spanish Mothers' ethnotheories about infant stimulation .  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Ghent, Belgium. July.
  17. Idzelis, M., Johnston, C. A., Blom, M. J. M., Harkness, S., & Super, C. M.  (2004). Mothers' social supports, sources of advice, and stress in the United States and the Netherlands .  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Ghent, Belgium. July.
  18. Levitch, A. H., Moscardino, U., Harkness, S., & Super, C. M.  (2004).  "Amore, Fai un Sorriso Alla Tata!" and "You're Such a Good Baby!":  Italian and American parents' descriptions of their infants.  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Ghent, Belgium. July.
  19. Blom, M. J. M., Super, C. M., Huitrón, B., & Harkness, S.  (2004).   Culturally regulated effects of prenatal experience.  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Ghent, Belgium. July.
  20. Russell, B., Blom, M. J. M., Huitrón, B., Moscardino, U., Harkness, S., & Super, C. M.  (2004). Culture, cortisol, and postpartum depression:  a study of mothers in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States .  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Ghent, Belgium. July.
  21. Super, C. M.; Blom, M. J. M.; Huitrón, B.; Harkness, S.; Granger, D. A.; & Korom, D.  (2003). Maternal daily mood and cortisol during later pregnancy: Individual and group differences.  Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa. FL.  April.
  22. Blom, M. J. M., & Super, C. M.  (2003). Regularity and daylight exposure reflected in circadian rhythms . Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa. FL.  April.
  23. Russell, B. S., Korom, D., Harkness, S., & Super, C. M.  (2003). Maternal expectations and experiences during the third trimester through 2 weeks post-partum.   Poster presented at the Biannual Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa. FL.  April.
  24. Super, C. M.  (2003). The bio-cultural regulation of development.  Invited address, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.  June.
  25. Super, C. M. & Harkness, S. (2002).  Culture and infant crying .  Presentation to the 8th International Research Conference on Infant Cry.  Padua, Italy, June.

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References

Harkness, S., Super, C. M., & van Tijen, N. (2000). Individualism and the "Western mind" reconsidered: American and Dutch parents' ethnotheories of children and family.  In S. Harkness, C. Raeff, & C. M. Super (Eds.).  Variability in the social construction of the child . New Directionsw for Child Development, vol. 87 (pp. 23-39).  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Super, C. M., Harkness, S., van Tijen, N., van der Vlugt, E., Fintelman, M., & Dijkstra, J.  (1996). The three Rs of child rearing in Holland and the socialization of infant arousal.   In S. Harkness & C. M. Super (Eds.).  Parents' cultural belief systems:  Sociocultural origins and developmental consequences. (pp. 447-466).  New York:  Guilford Press.