Ecological contributions to maternal-infant functioning: Differences between rural and urban family contexts

This study considered urban-rural differences in maternal-infant interactions (sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity), infant temperament, and parenting stress, for samples similar in socioeconomic and racial composition. Higher sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity were hypothesized for urban dyads, with more challenging temperament profiles predicted for rural infants. Rural mothers were expected to report more parenting-role stress.

Urban (n = 68; San Francisco Bay) and rural (n = 120; inland Pacific Northwest) mothers of infants provided ratings of temperament and parenting stress. Parental sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity were coded from mother-infant play observations. Groups were compared via analyses of covariance.

Urban mothers demonstrated significantly more sensitivity/responsiveness and synchrony/reciprocity compared to their rural counterparts. Rural mothers rated their infants significantly higher in negative affectivity and distress in response to limitations.

Although socioeconomic status is traditionally implicated in rural and urban population differences, our results suggest other factors (e.g., isolation, access to resources) warrant further exploration. Rural ecology appears to present risk that should be examined more closely in maternal-infant interactions and child social-emotional development. The variability of risk within urban and rural classifications (e.g., suburban, inner-city) also requires consideration.