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Parental Practices and Environmental Differences among Infants Living in Upper-Middle and High-Income Countries: A

Carolina Fioroni Ribeiro da Silva1, Valentina Menici2,3, Eloisa Tudella1

  • 1Postgraduate Program in Physiotherapy (PPG-Ft), Department of Physiotherapy, Nucleus of Studies in Neuropediatrics and Motricity (NENEM), Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos 13565-905, Brazil.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
|September 9, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Parental practices and home environments differ significantly between infants in Brazil and Italy. These findings highlight cultural influences on early childhood development and stimulation.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Environmental Health
  • Cross-Cultural Studies

Background:

  • Parental practices and environmental factors significantly influence infant development and functionality.
  • Understanding these influences is crucial for early intervention and support.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare parental practices and environmental factors in healthy and at-risk infants aged 3-6 months.
  • To investigate differences between infants from upper-middle-income (Brazil) and high-income (Italy) countries.

Main Methods:

  • A study involving 115 infants classified into four groups: healthy Italian (H_IT), at-risk Italian (R_IT), healthy Brazilian (H_BR), and at-risk Brazilian (L_BR).
  • Parental practices and environmental factors assessed via semi-structured interviews and the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS).
  • Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and correlation tests.

Main Results:

  • Significant differences observed in maternal age, parental education, civil status, and variety of home stimulation between infants in Brazil and Italy.
  • Strong dissimilarities in parental practices and environmental factors were found between infants from low/upper-middle and high-income countries.

Conclusions:

  • Cultural and socioeconomic factors profoundly shape parental practices and the home environment for infants.
  • The study provides valuable insights into cross-cultural differences in early childhood development environments.

Keywords:
environment and public healthparental practicesrisk factorsstress

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