Bilateral (Hong Kong): Cultural and Individual Influences on Parenting During Infancy

Advice for new parents is ubiquitous, though frequently contradictory. In a New Yorker article called "Sleeping with the Baby," John Seabrook told of his bewilderment as a new father, reading contradictory advice on how to get his infant to sleep, from Arlene Eisenberg's advice to leave infants crying in their cribs to William Sears' advice to share a bed with the baby, or co-sleep. Little is known about how parents respond to advice and why they choose certain caregiving practices over others, but at least in some cases, they are clearly disregarding advice. The results of the UK-wide Infant Feeding Survey in 2005, for instance, indicated that only 25% of 6-month-olds are breastfed, despite NHS recommendations that infants should be breastfed for at least six months.

We propose that parents differ in their support of two basic principles, structure and attunement, and that their support of these principles influences specific caregiving practices such as feeding and sleeping arrangements. Alice Winstanley and Merideth Gattis have developed a measure to study parenting principles and practices, the Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ). In this measure, structure refers to reliance on routines and schedules, and attunement refers to reliance on the infant's cues. Structure and attunement are often presented as opposites, as in a Guardian article called "Why isn't there more research into parenting regimes?" in which Oliver James contrasted parents who follow strict routines (schedulers) with parents who are infant-led (huggers). Research in the UK indicates, however, that although structure and attunement are weakly related, they each make a distinct contribution to parenting. In studies by Winstanley and Gattis, some parents were high in structure and low in attunement, while others were high in attunement and low in structure, but importantly, some parents were high in both structure and attunement, and other parents were low in both structure and attunement.

The aim of the current proposal is to develop and evaluate a cross-culturally valid measure of parenting principles and practices during infancy based on the BCQ, and to use that measure to assess parental support of structure and attunement in the UK, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. We propose three studies to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of the BCQ. Gathering evidence across cultures and nations will help us build a more accurate understanding of these two parenting principles and how they relate to each other, as well as how they relate to specific caregiving practices. Similarities and differences in caregiving practices between Hong Kong and the UK suggest that this will be an especially informative comparison. In particular, breastfeeding rates are very similar between Hong Kong and the UK, but sleeping arrangements are very different.

Understanding variation in principles as well as practices is important because preliminary data from Winstanley and Gattis (2011) indicates the two are related. In particular, in a study of 347 parents in the UK, they found that parents who were high in attunement were more likely to breastfeed their infants, and parents who were high in structure were more likely to have infants who slept alone. The proposed project will allow us to evaluate whether such relationships are specific to certain cultures and/or socioeconomic conditions, or are more general.

The resulting measure will be a valuable tool for addressing a wide range of theoretical and practical questions, including how parenting environments during infancy influence social and cognitive development, how changing socioeconomic and political conditions around the world are influencing families, and how risk factors surrounding birth, such as preterm birth, interact with individual and cultural factors, such as parenting principles and practices.

This research is concerned with the principles that guide parenting during infancy, and how those principles influence, or are influenced by, decision-making about everyday caregiving practices such as breastfeeding and bedsharing. One premise of this project is that both cultural and individual factors lead to variation in parenting principles and practices. The primary purpose of this research is to develop a methodological tool for social and life scientists to use in future studies of parenting during infancy, but we also expect the results of this research and the results of subsequent studies resulting from this research to be of interest to practitioners and care providers in health and education who are concerned with infant health and well-being, family support, and the well-being of mothers and fathers. For example, medical practitioners, including midwives, health visitors, and doctors who provide care to infants and their families will be interested in the results of this project and of subsequent projects using this methodological tool because it will help them to understand the decision-making processes of parents, how to speak with families about those decisions, and how to promote the adoption of healthful practices such as breastfeeding. Similarly, social agencies and charities who provide support to families with the aim of promoting infant and maternal health as well as strong family bonds will be interested in this research and subsequent studies based on this research because of the insights it promises into the needs of both parents and infants, as well as parental decision-making and family environments. This will not only be true for UK-based agencies and charities, but also for international agencies and charities, especially those working with populations in Hong Kong or other parts of China. We also expect this research to be of interest to national and international policy-makers who aim to promote infant health and well-being, including healthful family practices.

We will present our findings at international conferences such as the International Society for Infant Studies, and the Society for Research in Child Development, and at university seminars and workshops. We will publish written reports of our findings in international journals that are read by a broad range of scientists, including developmental psychologists, anthropologists, and medical researchers. We have several routes for impact beyond academic audiences, including talks to general audiences, talks to practitioner groups, and working with traditional media (print, radio and television) and internet-based media (e.g., blogs, science sites, and parenting sites). Dr Gattis' research group has a strong record of engagement activities, including public talks and other fora, as well as collaborations with artists to communicate scientific findings. Dr Gattis' group, Development@Cardiff, has a Research Advisory Board that meets annually to review and advise on research aims, activities, and impact. The Research Advisory Board includes health visitors and paediatricians, representatives from government agencies and charities, and academic advisors. This provides a formal mechanism for formulation and implementation of impact activities, and also provides important connections to specific routes for impact.