The Influence of Culture on Maternal Soothing Behaviours and Infant Pain Expression in the Immunization Context

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how maternal culture (ie, individualist versus collectivist) influences soothing techniques and infant distress.METHODS: Archival data were analyzed using a subsample of 80 mother-infant dyads selected from a larger database of infant pain expression.RESULTS: Mothers belonging to the individualist group used more affection behaviours when attempting to regulate their infants’ distress. No differences were observed in mothers’ touching, holding, rocking, vocalizing, caregiving or distracting their infants. Mothers’ culture did not appear to be related to the level of distress expressed by their infants.CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the similarities in soothing and infant pain expression between individualist and collectivist cultures are more prominent than their differences.