scholarly journals Mothers’ Use of Regulatory Talk with Toddlers in Chile and the US: How Do Cultural Values and Children’s Gender Affect Mothers’ Regulatory Talk at 12 and 30 Months?

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 874
Author(s):  
María Pía Santelices ◽  
Claire De Ann Vallotton ◽  
Chamarrita Farkas ◽  
Tzu-Fen Chang ◽  
Eduardo Franco ◽  
...  

Studies have shown that Chilean and US infants differ in their levels of self-regulation. One of the mechanisms of early socializing is the use of language, particularly mental state language. The current study seeks to deepen our knowledge of the ways in which mental state language is related to socialization processes in early childhood, including the ways both culture and children’s gender influence a mothers’ use of mental state talk. We used a quantitative and descriptive approach with 109 mothers and their children (64 Chilean and 45 US dyads), measured twice, at 12 and 30 months old. Mental state references related to regulation were coded during a story-sharing task, including positive (calm and patient) and negative (messy and impatient) references to regulating behavior. Chilean mothers generally showed more regulatory references than US mothers, especially if the children were at a younger age (12 month). Frequencies of regulatory references increased in US mothers at 30 months but were still less than in Chilean mothers. At the 12-month measuring point, Chilean mothers showed more negative regulatory attributes than positive regulatory attributes. Finally, US mothers mainly used references to secondary emotions (e.g., pride) and positive regulatory attributes (being obedient, mature and patient) at both ages.

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Morgan ◽  
Marek Meristo ◽  
Wolfgang Mann ◽  
Erland Hjelmquist ◽  
Luca Surian ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacey N. Doan ◽  
Helen Y. Lee ◽  
Qi Wang

We investigated the role of mothers’ references to mental states and behaviors and children’s emotion situation knowledge (ESK) in a prospective, cross-cultural context. European American mothers ( n = 71) and Chinese immigrant mothers ( n = 60) and their children participated in the study. Maternal references to mental states and behaviors were assessed at Time 1 when children were three years of age. ESK was assessed when children were 3, 3.5, and 4.5 years of age. Multi-group latent growth curve analyses were used to model children’s growth in ESK over time, as well as relations between mental state language and references to behaviors on children’s trajectories. Results indicated that maternal references to mental states were associated with concurrent levels of ESK for European American children, and change over time for the Chinese immigrant children. Maternal references to behaviors were negatively associated with concurrent ESK for both groups.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (04) ◽  
pp. 318-329
Author(s):  
Marie Moore Channell ◽  
Rebekah Bosley

AbstractChildren with Down syndrome (DS) have both strengths and difficulties in speech, language, and social communication. Mental state language—the ability to discuss others' perspectives such as their thoughts, feelings, and intentions—represents a foundational social communicative skill that is delayed in many children with DS, even into the school-age years. The purpose of this article is to review the evidence base on mental state language development in school-age children with DS, focusing in particular on assessment and intervention. We discuss assessment procedures that are both age appropriate and developmentally appropriate for this population. We also present preliminary data highlighting the role of caregivers in supporting mental state language development in school-age children with DS through shared storytelling. We propose that interventions aimed at supporting mental state language development in DS should include a focus on caregiver–child shared storybook reading, even in the school-age years. Therefore, we discuss key considerations for clinicians when teaching caregivers strategies for supporting mental state language and social communication in children with DS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1271-1287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tzu-Fen Chang ◽  
Chamarrita Farkas ◽  
Daniela Vilca ◽  
Claire Vallotton

Variability in parents’ socialization of gender across countries has been understudied. To address the gap, this study compares U.S. and Chilean mothers’ practices in socialization of gender through use of mental state language. Drawing on 90 Chilean and 52 U.S. mother–infant dyads, we examined variation in the frequencies of mothers’ utterances of five types of mental references—emotion, desire, physiological states, causal talk, and cognition—to determine whether they varied by country and infant gender. Infant age ranged between 10 and 15 months. The frequencies with which both U.S. and Chilean mothers in our sample talked about most mental references did not vary according to infant gender, with the exceptions of causal talk in the United States. Specifically, the U.S. mothers used more causal talk with girls than boys. There were more similarities than differences in maternal use of the mental references in the U.S. and Chilean samples. This study did not observe gendered socialization practices through the use of these mental references in infancy among the U.S. and Chilean mothers. Instead, the current study suggests that, using mothers’ mental references in the child’s first year as the indicator, both gender-neutral and cross-gendered socialization practices emerge in the United States, and only gender-neutral socialization practices emerge in Chile.


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