Zaira Papaligoura

Cultural Models, Socialization Goals, and Parenting Ethnotheories A Multicultural Analysis

This study conceptualizes a cultural model of parenting. It is argued that cultural models are expressed in the degree of familism, which informs socialization goals that are embodied in parenting ethnotheories. Three cultural models were differentiated a priori: independent, interdependent, and autonomous-related. Samples were recruited that were expected to represent these cultural models: German, Euro-American, and Greek middle-class women representing the independent cultural model; Cameroonian Nso and Gujarati farming women representing the interdependent cultural model; and urban Indian, urban Chinese, urban Mexican, and urban Costa Rican women representing the autonomous-related model. These a priori classifications were confirmed with data that addressed different levels of the cultural models of parenting. The authors further confirmed that socialization goals mediate between broader sociocultural orientations (familism) and parenting ethnotheories concerning beliefs about good parenting. The data reveal that the model of autonomous relatedness needs further theoretical and empirical refinement. Problems with empirical studies comparing participants with very different lifestyles are discussed.

The Bio-Culture of Parenting: Evidence From Five Cultural Communities

Objective. This study analyzes culturally formed parenting styles during infancy, as related to the sociocultural orientations of independence and interdependence. Design. Free-play situations between mothers and 3-month-old infants were videotaped in 5 cultural communities that differ according to their sociocultural orientations: cultural communities in West Africa (N = 26), Gujarat in India (N = 39), Costa Rica (N = 21), Greece (N = 51), and Germany (N = 56). The videotapes were analyzed using coding systems that operationalize the component model of parenting with a focus on 4 parenting systems, including body contact, body stimulation, object stimulation, and face-to-face contact. Results. 2 styles of parenting (distal and proximal) can be related to the sociocultural orientations of independence and interdependence. It is apparent that they express parenting priorities in particular ecocultural environments. Conclusions. Infants participate, from birth on, in sociocultural activities that are committed to cultural goals and values which inform parenting behaviors.

Distal and Proximal Parenting as Alternative Parenting Strategies during Infants Early Months of Life. A Cross-Cultural Study

Cultures differ with respect to parenting strategies already during infancy. Distal parenting, i.e., face-to-face context and object stimulation, is prevalent in urban educated middle-class families of Western cultures; proximal parenting, i.e., body contact and body stimulation, is prevalent in rural, low-educated farmer families. Parents from urban educated families in cultures with a more interdependent history use both strategies. Besides these cultural preferences, little is known about the relations between these styles as well as the behavioural systems constituting them. In this study therefore, the relations between the styles and the constituting behaviours were analysed in samples that differ with respect to their preferences of distal and proximal parenting. The hypothesized differences between the samples and the negative relationship between distal and proximal parenting, as well as between the respective behavioural systems can clearly be demonstrated. Furthermore, the impact of the sociodemographic variables with respect to the parenting strategies can be shown. Results were discussed as supporting two alternative parenting strategies that serve different socialization goals.

Early Reminiscing in Cultural Contexts: Cultural Models, Maternal Reminiscing Styles, and Children's Memories

The present study examined conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts when reminiscing with their 3-year-old children. We chose samples based on their sociodemographic profiles, which represented three different cultural models: (1) autonomy (urban middle-class families from Western societies), (2) relatedness (rural farming families from non-Western societies), and (3) autonomy-relatedness (urban middle-class families from non-Western societies). The results showed that mothers from the autonomous contexts predominantly adopted an elaborative-evaluative reminiscing style (variable-oriented approach) and pattern (person-oriented approach). Mothers from the relational contexts mainly adopted a repetitive reminiscing style and pattern. There was greater heterogeneity for style variables among mothers from autonomous-relational contexts; in addition, the person-oriented approach revealed that the majority of mothers from autonomous-relational contexts showed hybrid style patterns. Thus, the cultural models, and their respective orientations towards autonomy and relatedness, were reflected in the way mothers reminisced with their children. The childrens provision of memory elaborations was high in the autonomous contexts, low in the relational contexts, and moderate in the autonomous-relational contexts. Across contexts, maternal evaluations prompted children to contribute memory elaborations. Maternal elaborations were an additional predictor for childrens memory, but only for families from the relational cultural model.

The wish for a child among individuals who conceive with assisted reproduction technologies

Objective: The objective of the present study was to explore the wish for a child among Greek individuals who had procreated through various assisted reproductive methods. Background: Research has mainly focused on the motives of people to have children, with little attention given to their desire for a child, which has been debated mostly by psychoanalysts, philosophers and anthropologists. Methods: A hermeneutic phenomenology design was used with the large study from which the present data were derived. The sample comprised 19 women who had conceived with assisted reproduction methods, and retrospectively described their overall experience, during an in-depth interview. Results: According to findings, the awareness of the wish to reproduce becomes poignant when women realise that this might not be possible to fulfil. The participants’ motives to reproduce were: (a) appropriate life conditions, and (b) acquisition of social status, whereas their desire to have a child was: (a) to be like the mother of their early years, (b) to become pregnant in order to prove one’s fecundity, and (c) to compensate for guilt over an abortion. Conclusion: Findings suggest that women have both unconscious desires and conscious motives when they embark on the road for parenthood. The identification of both concepts may be of value to researchers, theoreticians, and clinicians who support individuals who wish to become parents.

From Infertility to Successful Third-Party Reproduction The Trajectory of Greek Women

The purpose of our phenomenological hermeneutic study was to explore the lived experiences of Greek infertile women who achieve a pregnancy through the use of sperm, oocyte, or embryo donation or surrogate motherhood. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 infertile women. Findings suggest that conceiving a child through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is lived as a highly distressing experience, comprising long waiting periods for medical results, several failed attempts, and treatment options with uncertain outcomes. The analysis of women’s accounts revealed a constitutive pattern, journeying between hope and despair, and three associated themes: (a) coping with uncertainty and treatment failures, (b) exploring options and decision making, and (c) being supported by spouse and professionals. Findings illuminate the specific meaning-based coping processes, decision-making patterns, and sources of support that help women who pursue treatment until they give birth to a child, to manage highly stressful situations and critical decisions.

A comparison of three-factor structure models using WISC-III in Greek children with learning disabilities

BackgroundChildren with learning disabilities are a heterogeneous group of children with a common characteristic discrepancy on the progress and development of their individual learning abilities. A few statistical analyses have been published regarding the factor analysis of the Greek Edition of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III. The aim of the research is the emergence of a new factorial model which describes the General Intelligence (g) of children and adolescents with learning disabilities, and that differs from the already existing intelligence models. This study aims to compare three-factor structure models of WISC-III in children with learning disabilities in the Greek population.MethodsA sample of 50 children were selected on the basis of research criteria from a total of 122 children who evaluated in a child psychiatric service in a general hospital, in a residential area in Greece. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Third Edition was used to assess children’s cognitive function. Using multi-factor analysis, three alternative factor models were compared.ResultsAnalysis of factor structure models suggests a new bi-factorial model that more appropriately describes the areas of cognitive development of children with learning disabilities. The first factor includes Comprehension, Picture Arrangement, Coding, Block Design, and Object Assembly, whereas the second one combines Information, Similarities, Arithmetic, Vocabulary, and Picture Arrangement.ConclusionsThe present study shows the existence of a factorial model with two factors: one aggregating the Comprehension verbal subtest with four performance subtests and the other the Picture Arrangement performance subtest with four verbal subtests. This two-factor model includes the loadings in two factors that relate to sequencing abilities and verbal reasoning abilities of children. These findings assert the clinical utility of the intelligence evaluation in the specific population.

How Usual Is “Play As You Usually Would”? A Comparison of Naturalistic Mother-Infant Interactions with Videorecorded Play Sessions in Three Cultural Communities

In developmental research, mothers are frequently asked to “play as you usually would.” In this study, maternal behavior towards their three-month-olds in three cultural communities (Nso, Cameroon; Gujarati, India; Athens, Greece) was compared between videorecorded “play” situations and naturalistic observations. If there is consistency, videorecorded “play” episodes can be used as a proxy for daily behavior. Body contact, body stimulation, face-to-face situations, and object stimulation were coded. While individual mothers showed consistent levels of body contact and face-to-face and object stimulation in both situations, there were also high correlations across the different types of behaviors. Only body contact and object stimulation correlate significantly across behavioral frames but not with each other across or within either observational frame. They can therefore be understood as behaviors with some discriminatory power. Mothers generally show a higher frequency of behaviors in the videorecorded play situations than during the everyday observations across all three communities. However, the samples differ in the extent to which three of the four behaviors are seen more in the videorecorded play sessions. A broader and general understanding of mothers’ ethnotheories and daily activities in each community is required in order to interpret videographed “play as you usually would” situations.

Surrogacy: The experience of Greek commissioning women.

BACKGROUND Available studies on surrogacy are extremely limited. Findings suggest that surrogacy is experienced as problem free, with a significant number of commissioning mothers maintaining contact with the surrogates over time. AIM To explore the experiences of Greek commissioning women regarding the surrogacy arrangement and birth of a child through surrogacy. METHODS The data of this study were collected from 7 intended mothers who had either a long history of infertility or serious health problems. Interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and analysed employing content analysis. FINDINGS The analysis of the womens accounts revealed three themes: (a) a shared journey, (b) the birth of a long-awaited child, and (c) the surrogacy disclosure. The surrogacy process became the womens affairs, with their partners offering backstage support. A very close bond was developed with the surrogates, characterised by daily contacts and care-giving behaviours. While this bond was abruptly discontinued after the childs birth, it was interiorised with all participants being grateful to their surrogate. The timing and content of the surrogacy disclosure to family and child(ren) were carefully chosen by participants, who avoided providing information when egg donation was involved. CONCLUSION Findings are reassuring for women who want to parent a child through a surrogate arrangement, and suggest that the availability of counselling services may help intended mothers to cope with disclosure issues.