title: Rural N(SO) and German middle-class mothers' interaction with their 3- and 6-month-old infants: A longitudinal cross-cultural analysis.
abstract: This study aims to analyze culture-specific development of maternal interactional behavior longitudinally. Rural Cameroonian Nso mothers (n = 72) and German middle-class mothers (n = 106) were observed in free-play interactions with their 3- and 6-month-old infants. Results reveal the expected shift from a social to a nonsocial focus only in the German middle-class mothers' play interactions but not the rural Nso mothers' play. Nso mothers continue their proximal interactional style with a focus on body contact and body stimulation, whereas German middle-class mothers prefer a distal style of interaction with increasing object-centeredness. These cultural differences are in line with broader cultural models and become more accentuated as the infants grow older.
authors.affiliation: University of Osnabrück.
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lamm
authors.affiliation: University of Hamburg.
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gudi
authors.affiliation: University of Bielefeld.
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fassbender
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University Giessen.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Graf
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goertz
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University Giessen.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spangler
authors.affiliation: University of Bielefeld.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teubert
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt/M.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knopf
authors.affiliation: University of Bielefeld.
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lohaus
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University Giessen.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schwarzer
authors.affiliation: University of Osnabrück.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Keller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*