Distal and proximal parenting as alternative parenting strategies during infants’ early months of life: A cross-cultural study

• Published in: International journal of behavioral development Vol. 33; no. 5; pp. 412 - 420
• Main Authors: Keller, Heidi, Borke, Joern, Staufenbiel, Thomas, Yovsi, Relindis D., Abels, Monika, Papaligoura, Zaira, Jensen, Henning, Lohaus, Arnold, Chaudhary, Nandita, Lo, Wingshan, Su, Yanjie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2009; Sage
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Cameroon; Child Behavior; Child Development; Child Rearing; China; Costa Rica; Cross Cultural Studies; Cultural Differences; Cultural Influences; Developmental psychology; Family histories; Foreign Countries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Germany; Greece; India; Infants; Middle class people; Newborn. Infant; Parent Child Relationship; Parent-Infant interactions; Parenting; Parenting Styles; Proximity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rural Areas; Socialization; Socioeconomic Influences; Stimulation; United States; Urban Areas; Western culture; Greece; Cameroon; United States; China; Germany; Costa Rica; India; socialization goals; infancy; parenting strategies; culture; mother—child interaction; Human; Social environment; Parental behavior; Social interaction; Family environment; Infant; Strategy; Parent child relation
• ISSN: 0165-0254; 1464-0651
• DOI: 10.1177/0165025409338441

Cultures differ with respect to parenting strategies already during infancy. Distal parenting, i.e., face-to-face context and object stimulation, is prevalent in urban educated middle-class families of Western cultures; proximal parenting, i.e., body contact and body stimulation, is prevalent in rural, low-educated farmer families. Parents from urban educated families in cultures with a more interdependent history use both strategies. Besides these cultural preferences, little is known about the relations between these styles as well as the behavioural systems constituting them. In this study therefore, the relations between the styles and the constituting behaviours were analysed in samples that differ with respect to their preferences of distal and proximal parenting. The hypothesized differences between the samples and the negative relationship between distal and proximal parenting, as well as between the respective behavioural systems can clearly be demonstrated. Furthermore, the impact of the sociodemographic variables with respect to the parenting strategies can be shown. Results were discussed as supporting two alternative parenting strategies that serve different socialization goals.