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Mother-Child Emotional Availability Across Cultures: Findings from Western and Non-Western Countries

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Parenting Across Cultures

Part of the book series: Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science ((SACH,volume 7))

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Abstract

Positive emotional relationships between mothers and children are critical to children’s healthy development. Here, we review the literature on cross-cultural differences in emotional availability, emotional responsiveness, and affective attunement between mother and child. Although the research base for Western cultures is expanding, there is limited information available about emotional availability in non-Western cultures. Particularly lacking are cross-cultural studies in general, as well as intra-cultural studies on Asian and African cultures. Based on the limited cross-cultural work on emotional availability, we conclude that emotional availability is a broadly applicable construct and that typically functioning dyads score in the adaptive range on the Emotional Availability Scales regardless of culture. Still, small systematic variations in the emotional availability of dyads across cultures have been documented.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NICHD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Suite 8030, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892-7971, USA

    Diane L. Putnick, Marc H. Bornstein & Joan T. D. Suwalsky

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Dana A. Breakstone

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  1. Diane L. Putnick
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  2. Marc H. Bornstein
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  4. Joan T. D. Suwalsky
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Correspondence to Diane L. Putnick .

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  1. Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Helaine Selin

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Putnick, D.L., Bornstein, M.H., Breakstone, D.A., Suwalsky, J.T.D. (2014). Mother-Child Emotional Availability Across Cultures: Findings from Western and Non-Western Countries. In: Selin, H. (eds) Parenting Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7503-9_35

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