SYNOPSIS Objective. This observational study examined behaviors and emotion expressions of rural and urban Chinese mothers and children during interaction. Design. The participants included 95 rural mothers and 102 urban mothers with their children (M age = 9 years; 54 boys in rural group and 53 boys in urban group). Mother–child interactions during a free-play session were observed and coded in terms of initiations and responses. Results. Rural mothers displayed more controlling behaviors, whereas urban mothers displayed more guidance-encouragement in initiations. Rural mothers also displayed more disapproval-neglect responses to their children’s initiations than urban mothers. Rural children made fewer initiations and showed more cooperative and compliant responses than urban children, whereas urban children made more neutral responses to mothers’ guidance-encouragement. In addition, rural dyads showed fewer positive emotions toward each other than urban dyads. Conclusions. The results about the rural–urban differences in mother–child interactions help achieve a better understanding of how contextual factors shape parenting practices and child behaviors.

SYNOPSIS Objective. We do not know which maternal characteristics and aspects of the home environment are associated with more favorable executive function (EF) development in understudied Global South populations. The current study attempts to address this research gap. Design. A sample of 4,464 mother—child dyads was followed over 8 years. Maternal personality and cognitive abilities were assessed at child age 2.7 years, parental emotional support and the home learning environment at child age 4.8 years, and maternal parenting stress and children’s verbal working memory (Backwards Digit Span), and global EFs (Hearts and Flowers tasks) at child age 10.5 years. Generalized linear model analyses were conducted to examine whether maternal characteristics and the home environment during early childhood predicted verbal working memory and global EFs in middle childhood, after controlling for sociodemographic family characteristics. Results. Maternal attention and working memory, maternal vocabulary, and the home learning environment were positively associated with children’s verbal working memory, whereas maternal parenting stress was negatively associated with children’s verbal working memory. Maternal attention and memory, as well as parental emotional support, showed positive associations, whereas maternal neuroticism, the home learning environment, and maternal parenting stress showed negative associations with children’s global EFs. Conclusions. Maternal characteristics and the home environment during early childhood play specific roles in children’s EF skills across middle childhood in Chilean elementary school children in ways that might guide researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in designing prevention or intervention programs.

SYNOPSIS Fivush and Kellas Koenig provide a compelling overview of the theoretical, methodological and interdisciplinary opportunities in family storytelling. This commentary offers a transdisciplinary viewpoint on family storytelling that extends this approach and includes recommendations for research methods, training, and investigator opportunities. The commentary ends with a discussion of how to capture the untold and family experiences with storytelling.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Family stories are the fabric of identity, as they anchor individuals in their familial, cultural, and societal context. However, relatively little research has examined the function of family stories in relation to sociocultural group or cultural values. Design. In the present study, we examined how emerging adult women (n = 41) engaged in retrospective storytelling of a favorite family memory based on sociocultural group (Asian American, Latina American, or European American) and familism (high or low). Results. Drawing upon narrative identity and sense-making literatures grounded within a sociocultural framework, analyses revealed that family stories consistently served to provide insight into the perspectives of others and to model positioning of relationships. Sociocultural group was associated with how family stories served as a mechanism for expressing familism values, and both sociocultural and familism groups were related to how family stories served as a source of meaning-making and identity creation. Conclusions. Our findings add to the growing literature on the nuanced ways in which sociocultural group and cultural values shape the function of family stories and have important implications for the development of identity and storytelling behaviors in emerging adulthood.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Although a growing body of evidence suggests that paternal autonomy support (AS) promotes optimal child development in multiple spheres, antecedents of paternal AS have seldom been explored. The present longitudinal study used a family systems perspective to gain deeper insights into child and maternal antecedents of observed paternal AS versus controlling practices during toddlerhood. Design. Using a sample of 169 French-Canadian fathers (M age = 33.70 years old, SD = 4.74) and mothers (M = 31.46 years, SD = 4.11) with an infant (52% boys, 48% girls), structural equation modeling was conducted to investigate the predictive role of infant temperament and maternal coparenting support and gate closing attitudes on observed paternal AS and control, controlling for paternal psychological symptoms. At 6 months post-partum, fathers’ and mothers’ perceptions of infant temperament (extraversion/surgency, effortful control, and negative affectivity), maternal coparenting support and gate closing attitudes, and paternal psychological symptoms were assessed using questionnaires. At 12 months, both paternal AS and control were rated using a well-validated coding scheme, applied to a father-toddler problem-solving sequence filmed at home. Results. Findings revealed that infant extraversion/surgency as perceived by fathers at 6 months was prospectively associated with less paternal AS and more paternal control at 12 months. In contrast, maternal coparenting support at 6 months was associated with more paternal AS and less paternal control at 12 months. Conclusions. Policies and intervention programs that want to promote paternal AS should consider fathers’ perceptions of coparenting support and child temperament.

SYNOPSIS Objective. The goal of the present study was to provide a clearer picture of the correlates of father involvement during infancy using a multidimensional and multifactorial approach. Design. In a sample of 84 couples having a 7-month-old infant, various factors (paternal psychological symptoms and sense of competence, child sex and difficultness, marital satisfaction, parenting alliance, and maternal gatekeeping attitudes and support for the father’s role) were examined in association with several dimensions of fathers’ involvement (engagement in childcare and play, accessibility, and responsibility) measured by a time diary covering a 7-day week. Results. Father engagement in childcare was associated with maternal gatekeeping attitudes and support for the father’s role, and father engagement in play was associated with child difficultness. Correlates of father involvement vary across dimensions of involvement, highlighting the importance of using a multifactorial and multidimensional framework to increase understanding of factors that promote or hinder such involvement. Conclusions. Findings highlight the importance of supporting fathers in their parenting role, especially when they are experiencing difficulty in their relationship with the child and his/her mother.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Maternal stress is a psychological response to the demands of motherhood. A high level of maternal stress is a risk factor for maternal mental health problems, including depression and anxiety, as well as adverse infant socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. Yet, levels of maternal stress (i.e., levels of stress related to parenting) among low-risk samples are rarely studied longitudinally, particularly in the first year after birth. Design. We measured maternal stress in an ethnically diverse sample of low-risk, healthy U.S. mothers of healthy infants (N = 143) living in South Florida across six time points between 2 weeks and 14 months postpartum using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, capturing stress related to the mother, mother-infant interactions, and the infant. Results. Maternal distress increased as infants aged for mothers with more than one child, but not for first-time mothers whose distress levels remained low and stable across this period. Stress related to mother-infant dysfunctional interactions lessened over the first 8 months. Mothers’ stress about their infants’ difficulties decreased from 2 weeks to 6 months, and subsequently increased from 6 to 14 months. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that maternal stress is dynamic across the first year after birth. The current study adds to our understanding of typical developmental patterns in early motherhood and identifies potential domains and time points as targets for future interventions.

SYNOPSIS Objective. Maternal nurturance to infant distress is associated with positive child developmental outcomes including greater attachment security, emotion regulation skills, and social and behavioral competencies. However, factors at multiple levels of parents’ environments may impede parents’ ability to respond sensitively to their infants’ distress. This study examined whether household-level burden (low maternal education, financial need) and neighborhood-level resources (distribution of educational, health/environmental, and socio/economic resources in a community) are associated with parents’ beliefs about infant crying and observed maternal nurturance to infant distress. Design. Ninety-nine mothers (M age = 28.99 years, SD = 5.41) of 6- to 12- month-old infants (42.4% female) completed questionnaires assessing household-level burden as well as the Infant Crying Questionnaire (ICQ) during a home visit. Mother-infant interactions were also filmed to assess maternal sensitivity to infant distress. Results. In separate models, higher household burden and reduced neighborhood resources were associated with increased maladaptive beliefs about infant crying and reduced nurturance to distress. When considered together, household burden was uniquely associated with maternal nurturance. Conclusions. Implications for intervention include considering efforts at both the household and neighborhood levels to address multi-systemic disparities that families experience in efforts to promote greater maternal nurturance.

SYNOPSIS Objective . To explore whether maternal sensitivity is associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) severity in children with and without ASD. Design . The samples consisted of 25 Mexican dyads of children with ASD (aged 3.1-6.9 years) and their mothers (aged 20-47 years) and 24 Mexican dyads of children without ASD (aged 3.4-6.7 years) and their mothers (aged 24-45 years). Maternal sensitivity and ASD severity symptoms were scored from 2-h videos of mother-child daily interactions. Results . A between-group comparison showed a trend toward less severe ASD in children with highly sensitive mothers, specifically in the Nonverbal Communication subdomain. Conclusions . Greater maternal sensitivity is associated with improved social ability in children with ASD.

SYNOPSIS Objective . Children differ in the extent to which they reap the benefits of maternal sensitive care or suffer the adverse consequences of insensitive care, and these differences can be accounted for by biological characteristics. However, how susceptible children adapt to maternal sensitivity in ways that either maximize positive development or lead to maladjustment has yet to be determined. Here, we propose a novel model of socioemotional mechanisms by which the joint influences of maternal sensitivity and child biological characteristics influence child adjustment. Design . We propose a theoretical model, in which children’s vagal functioning and polymorphisms in serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) genes confer susceptibility to the effects of maternal sensitivity on internalizing, externalizing, prosocial and moral behavior via changes in interpersonal strategies for emotion regulation, the threat response system, and empathy. Results . Theoretical and empirical support for the proposed mechanisms are provided. Conclusions . The proposed mechanistic model of susceptibility to maternal sensitivity offers a novel framework of for whom and how children are affected by early maternal care, highlighting multiple reciprocal, interacting influences across genes, physiology, behavior, and the environment.