Maternal sensitivity in interactions with their 2-month-old infants in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of maternal sensitivity in 22 primiparous women and their infants from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A semistructured interview was conducted about sociodemographic risk, as and videotaped home observations to assess maternal sensitivity, and its relation with warmth, verbal and physical engagement, and camera awareness. A K-means cluster analysis was performed to examine patterns of risk in relation to maternal sensitivity. Compared to the 15 mothers with higher sensitivity scores, the seven mothers with lower sensitivity scores were characterized by lower educational levels, lower income, lower age, living in a slum, unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, and later onset of prenatal care. Whether father was resident did not appear to distinguish between the lower and higher sensitivity groups. The pattern of social-contextual risk for Brazilian mothers showing less sensitive caregiving to their infants provide a clear direction for future research in this cultural context.

“Quem Não Pega, Não Se Apega”? Interações e Vínculos com Bebês Acolhidos

“…al., 2018). Sucessivas revisões de literatura e estudos avaliativos discutem o potencial desses programas no fortalecimento dos recursos adaptativos das crianças e fatores de proteção, beneficiando interações estimulantes, promotoras de bem-estar e segurança emocional (Ribeiro-Accioly et. al., 2019).…”

“…A discussão acerca do papel fundante das práticas parentais e dos vínculos no início da vida é muito difundida na literatura científica brasileira, sobretudo quando se discute maternidade/parentalidade, desenvolvimento de bebês e interações mãe-bebê (Alvarenga et. al., 2019;Ribeiro-Accioly et. al., 2019).…”

“Who Doesn’t Pick-Up, Doesn´t Get Attached”? Interactions and Bonds with Foster Infants

“…al., 2018). Successive literature reviews and evaluative studies discuss these programs' potential in strengthening children's adaptive resources and protective factors, thereby fostering stimulating interventions that can promote well-being and emotional security (Ribeiro-Accioly et. al., 2019).…”

“…The discussion on the founding role of parenting practices and bonds early in life is widespread in the Brazilian scientific literature, especially when discussing maternity, parenting, infant development, and mother-infant interactions (Alvarenga et. al., 2019;Ribeiro-Accioly et. al., 2019).…”

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Brazilian Portuguese Version of an Observational Measure for Parent–Child Responsive Caregiving

“…To overcome this, the field recommends adaptation of instruments with documented validity rather than the development of new ones since cross-cultural adaptation is faster, easier, and less expensive [19,20]. Experimental and correlational studies performed in Brazil have shown cultural evidence of the importance of the construct of responsivity/sensitivity in the Brazilian society [21][22][23].…”