Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T23:00:44.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Profiles of Maternal Care Observed in a Group of Brazilian Mothers: an Exploratory Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Maria Lucia Seidl-de-Moura ,
Altay L. de Souza ,
Angela Donato Oliva ,
Mauro Luis Vieira ,
Eulina Lordelo ,
Rosana Suemi Tokumaru  and
Tatiana Targino Alves Bandeira
Maria Lucia Seidl-de-Moura*
Affiliation:
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Altay L. de Souza
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do ABC (Brazil)
Angela Donato Oliva
Affiliation:
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Mauro Luis Vieira
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil)
Eulina Lordelo
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil)
Rosana Suemi Tokumaru
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo (Brazil)
Tatiana Targino Alves Bandeira
Affiliation:
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maria Lucia Seidl-de-Moura. Rua Fritz Feigl, 465, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 22750-600. Phone: +552124471588. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this study is to characterize profiles of maternal care in a sample of Brazilian mothers, using a culturalbiological perspective. Participants were 315 women who had at least one child younger than six years-old. They were selected from six Brazilian states. In each state, two groups of mothers were studied, one from the capital and one from a small city. They were interviewed and answered scales on allocentrism, social support, adult attachment, and practices of childcare. Mothers' characteristics, the type of context (capital vs. small city), and reported childcare practices were used in a Tree analysis. A Correspondence analysis was performed using the four clusters obtained and mothers' answers regarding their youngest child. Univariate GLM analyses were performed to compare mothers in the four clusters in terms of their scores on the different scales. Four maternal profiles presenting distinctive patterns of association between mothers' characteristics and care practices displayed to the youngest child were identified. We conclude that maternal care is a multi-determined phenomenon and that the method employed in this study can give insights into how the combination of diverse social-biological factors can result in a set of childcare practices.

El objetivo de este estudio es caracterizar los perfiles de atención materna en una muestra de madres brasileñas, desde una perspectiva cultural-biológica. Las participantes fueron 315 mujeres que tenían al menos un hijo menor de seis años. Fueron seleccionadas en seis estados brasileños. En cada estado, se estudiaron dos grupos de madres, uno de la capital y otro de una ciudad pequeña. Fueron entrevistadas y se les administró la escala de alocentrismo, la de apoyo social, la de apego en adultos, y la de prácticas de cuidado en niños. Las características maternas, el tipo de contexto (la capital vs. ciudad pequeña), y la información aportada sobre prácticas de cuidado en niños, fueron utilizados en un árbol de decisión. Utilizando los cuatro grupos obtenidos y las respuestas de las madres sobre sus hijos más pequeños, se realizó un análisis de correspondencias. Para comparar a las madres en los cuatro grupos, en función de sus puntuaciones en las diferentes escalas, se utilizaron análisis univariados mediante el procedimiento GLM. Fueron identificados cuatro perfiles maternos que presentan patrones distintivos de asociación entre las características maternas y las prácticas de cuidado que se dispensan a los niños más pequeños. Llegamos a la conclusión de que la atención materna es un fenómeno multi-determinado y que el método empleado en este estudio puede proporcionarnos mayor información sobre cómo puede resultar la combinación de diversos factores sociobiológicos, en un conjunto de prácticas de cuidado infantil.

Keywords

maternal investmentmaternal careBrazilinversión maternalcuidado maternoBrasil
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 989 - 999
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abels, M., Keller, H., Mohite, P., Mankodi, H., Shastri, J., Bhargava, S., … Lakhani, A. (2005). Early socialization contexts and social experiences of infants in rural and urban Gujarat, India. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 717–738. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0022022105280511CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ABEP/Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa [Brazilian Association of Research Institutions] (2008). Critério de classificação econômica do Brasil [Brazilian criteria of economic classification]. Retrieved from http://www.abep.org/novo/Content.aspx?ContentID=301Google Scholar
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1131166CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjorklund, D. F., & Pellegrini, A. D. (2000). Child development and evolutionary psychology. Child Development, 71, 1687–1708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00258CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burgess, R. L., & Drais, A. A. (1999). Beyond the “Cinderella effect”: Life history theory and child maltreatment. Human Nature, 10, 373–398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12110-999-1008-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, N. L., & Read, S. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644–663. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.4.644CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Del Giudice, M., & Belsky, J. (2011a). Parent-child relationships. In Salmon, C. A. & Shackelford, T. K. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary family psychology. (pp. 65–82). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Del Giudice, M., & Belsky, J. (2011b). The development of life history strategies: Toward a multi-stage theory. In Buss, D. M. & Hawley, P. H. (Eds.), The evolution of personality and individual differences. (pp. 154–176). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gangestad, S. W., & Simpson, J. A. (2000). The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 573–587. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0000337XCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geary, D. C. (2002). Sexual selection and human life history. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 30, 41–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2407(02)80039-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griep, R. H., Chor, D., Faerstein, E., Werneck, G. L., & Lopes, C. S. (2003). Apoio social: Confiabilidade Teste-reteste de Escala no Estudo Pró-Saúde [Social support: scale test-retest reliability in the Pro-Health Study]. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 19, 625–634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2003000200029CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IBGE Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2008). Censo 2000 [Census 2000]. Retrieved from http://www.ibge.gov.brGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, H. S., & Lancaster, J. B. (2003). An evolutionary and ecological analysis of human fertility, mating patterns, and parental investment. In Watcher, K. W. & Bulatao, R. A. (Eds.), Offspring: Human fertility behavior in biodemographic perspective. Panel for the workshop on the biodemography of fertility and family behavior. Washington DC: The National Academies PressGoogle Scholar
Kärtner, J., Keller, H., & Yovsi, R. D. (2010). Mother-infant interaction during the first 3 months: The emergence of culture-specific contingency patterns. Child Development, 81, 540–554. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01414.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, H. (2007). Cultures of infancy. London, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Keller, H., & Chasiotis, A. (2007). Maternal investment. In Salmon, C. A. & Shackelford, T. K. (Eds.), Family relations: an evolutionary perspective (pp. 96–111). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Keller, H., Kuensemueller, P., Abels, M., Voelker, S., Yovsi, R., Jensen, H., … Mohite, P. (2005). Parenting, culture and development: A comparative study. San José, Costa Rica: Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas da Universidad de Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Keller, H., Lamm, B., Abels, M., Yovsi, R., Borke, J., Jensen, H., … Chaudhary, N. (2006). Cultural models, socialization goals and parenting ethnotheories: A multicultural analysis. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 155–172. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022022105284494CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kobarg, A. P. R., & Vieira, M. L. (2008). Crenças e práticas sobre desenvolvimento infantile em contextos rurais e urbanos [Mothers' beliefs and practices about child development in rural and urban contexts]. Psicologia: Reflexão & Crítica, 21, 433–440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722008000300008Google Scholar
Kramer, K. L., & Lancaster, J. B. (2010). Teen motherhood in cross-cultural perspective. Annals of Human Biology, 37, 613–628. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/03014460903563434CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lay, C., Fairlie, P., Jackson, S., Ricci, T., Eisenberg, J., Sato, T., … Melamud, A. (1998). Domain-specific allocentrismidiocentrism: A measure of family connectedness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29, 434–460. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022022198293004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, B. S. (2005). Women's lives there, here, then, now: A review of women's ecological and demographic constraints cross-culturally. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 64–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.08.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martins, G. D. F., Macarini, S. M., Sachetti, V. A. R., Vieira, M. L., & Seidl-de-Moura, M. L. S. (2009). Cuidado parental e apoio social em mães residentes na capital e interior de Santa Catarina [Parental care and social support in mothers resident in the capital and in the interior of Santa Catarina]. Interação, 13, 25–35.Google Scholar
Martins, G. D. F., Macarini, S. M., Vieira, M. L., Seidl-de-Moura, M. L., Bussab, V. S. R., & Cruz, R. M. (2010). Construção e validação de uma escala para medir crenças e práticas parentais na infância. [Construction and validation of a scale to measure parental beliefs and practices of care in infancy]. PsicoUSF, 15, 23–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-82712010000100004Google Scholar
Neill, D. (2011). Urbanization and daughter-biased parental investment in Fiji. Human Nature, 22, 139–155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12110-011-9110-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prentice, A. M., & Prentice, A. (1995). Evolutionary and environmental influences on human lactation. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 54, 391–400. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/PNS19950008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinlan, R. J. (2007). Human parental effort and environmental risk. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274, 121–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3690CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinlan, R. J., & Quinlan, M. B. (2008). Human lactation, pair-bonds, and alloparents. Human Nature, 19, 87–102. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12110-007-9026-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ribeiro, C. A. C., & Scalon, M. C. (2001). Mobilidade de classe no Brasil em perspectiva comparada [Class mobility in Brazil in comparative perspective]. Dados, Revista de Ciências Sociais, 44, 53–96.Google Scholar
Seidl-de-Moura, M. L., Lordelo, E., Vieira, M. L., Piccinini, C. A., de Oliveira Siqueira, J., Colino Magalhães, C. M., … Rímoli, A. (2008). Brazilian mothers' socialization goals: Intracultural differences in seven Brazilian cities. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 32, 465–472. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0165025408093666CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seidl-de-Moura, M. L., Oliva, A. D., & Vieira, M. L. (2009). Human development in a evolutionary perspective. Avances en Psicologia Latinoamericana, 27, 252–262.Google Scholar
Sparks, C. S. (2011). Parental investment and socioeconomic status influences on children's height in Honduras: An analysis of national data. American Journal of Human Biology, 23, 80–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.21104CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, L. W., & Tokumaru, R. (2008). Cuidados parentais e aloparentais recebidos por crianças de escolas públicas e particulares de Vitória, ES. [Parental and aloparental care received by children in public and private schools in Vitoria, ES]. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 21, 133–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-79722008000100017Google Scholar
Sourial, N., Wolfson, C., Zhu, B., Quail, J., Fletcher, J., Karunananthan, S., Bandeen-Roche, K., … Bergman, H. (2010). Correspondence analysis is a useful tool to uncover the relationships among categorical variables. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63, 638–646. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2009.08.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Triandis, H. C. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing social contexts. Psychological Review, 96, 506–520. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037//0033-295X.96.3.506CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trivers, P. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In Campbell, B (Ed.), Sexual selection and descent of man (pp.136–179). Chicago, IL: Aldine Press.Google Scholar
Turner, S. L. (2006). A laboratory simulation of parental investment decisions: The role of future reproductive opportunities and quality of offspring in determining levels of parental investment. Evolutionay Psychology, 4, 197–207.Google Scholar
Vieira, M. L., Seidl-de-Moura, M. L., Macarini, S. M., Martins, G. D., Lordelo, E. da R., & Tokumaru, R. S. (2010). Autonomy and interdependence: Beliefs of Brazilian mothers from state capitals and small towns. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 13, 816–824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeung, W. J., Linver, M. R., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2002). How money matters for young children's development: Parental investment and family processes. Child Development, 73, 1861–1879. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.t01-1-00511CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zortéa, T. C., & Tokumaru, R. S. (2010). Family relationship and socio-economic context. Interpersona, 4, 106–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar