**2. Parenting and context**

Establishing a durable emotional relationship between parents and children, or between a caregiver and a child, is achieved through daily interactions that are frequent and reciprocal.

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Therefore, interventions for this population should serve to strengthen the emotional and affective bonds between parents and children, improve the motivation of caregivers, and increase the frequency, power, and contingency of their responses [6,7]. Also, interventions should achieve successful mutual behavioral adaptation [8,9].

emotional bond with their primary caregiver [10,15]. According to Sroufe and Waters [17] the dyad is a unit biologically based, but organized by the effect of culture. Thereby Attachment Theory considers the tendency to establish interpersonal relationships as inherent to human nature, present in newborns and continuing throughout life course. There is debate about whether the importance of the quality of care provided to children and their secure base behavior organization can be generalized to all cultures [18]. The care given to infants, specifically in current relationships, is strongly influenced by characteristics of the culture in which the dyad is involved. Different cultures may have different perspectives about the role of children in family. Thus, cultural values can guide education models that encourage autonomy, while others would value education models that promote interdependence [19]. For example, families of middle and high socioeconomic status, from Western countries, value the individuality and independence of their children, while families of lower socioeconomic status value closeness and dependency. These educational differences reflect different expectations for child development, as well as show a difference in beliefs about development itself, manifested in different interactive practices [20]. Consequently, parents react to the requests of their children according to their knowledge about child development, but also according to the characteristics that they want to promote in their child [21]. In Western societies (European and North American) there is, for example, a greater tendency to interact face-to-face, with the valuation of language addressed to the child, and the use of objects [19]. In African societies, the maternal speech to children is used for the first time around 12 months, and until then the baby is carried in mother's lap or on her back [19]. In Asian societies the

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interaction with the infants non-verbal, focusing instead on physical contact [19].

attention-getting methods are easily identified by adults.

tions of the time in which the person lives [26].

time.

Regarding the distinct patterns of interaction found in various cultures, van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg [22] conducted a study in 32 countries of differing cultural histories (European, Latin American and Asian). It was found that despite all the different interactive practices observed, all of them were aimed at providing care and comfort to the infant. Researchers observed behaviors identified as contingent and syntonic. These findings confirm Bowlby's principles [15], that is, whatever the cultural origin, infants have a need for protection and their

However, care and educational strategies provided to children by caregivers, will be affected by the characteristics and demands of the environment in which they are inserted [23-25]. From this perspective, these authors describe development as a continuous process established over

In *The Bioecological Theory of Human Development* (BTHD [24]) Bronfenbrenner conceptualizes the models as P(person), P(process), C(context), and T(time). A person is defined as an element in constant evolution, wich influences and is influenced by the environment in which they are inserted. Context consists of five distinct aspects: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The latter refers to the dimension of time spent immersed in an environment, the person and their relationships, so to speak, the sociohistorical condi‐

The microsystem is characterized as the environment in which a child has established interactive, face-to-face relationships, and where proximal processes occur (home and school,

Successful mutual adaptation between caregivers and children will promote caregiver effectiveness as guides and models for their children; it also will facilitate a stable system in an enduring relationship, enabling and sustaining a child's potential development [9]. The term 'caregiver' applies to all persons responsible for child care during the first years of life; for example, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, fosters or any other person who performs that role in the life of the child [10]. The process of providing care for young children has been conceptualized in Attachment Theory, through the study of affective bonds estab‐ lished between a child and those closest to them, the primary caregiver or secondary person in the child's family and social environment. Caregiver availability, how appropriately they respond to the child's needs, environmental demands, and the quality of the situations in which interaction occurs are all factors conceptualized when assessing caregiver sensitivity [6].

Sensitivity involves appropriate caregiver self-control in conflicts that could emerge in the interaction with children, as well as negotiation skills to help resolve those situations [6]. That is, sensitivity implies a co-regulation of emotions that emerge in conflicts, and that must be modulated by the caregiver. Sensitive caregivers help children to modulate their behaviors, not only in positive moments, but also in times of stress [11,12].

Attachment is evident in a child's tendency to maintain proximity and contact with the person who gives them the greatest sense of security, feeling of distress on separation, and joy in reunion [13]. For Bowlby [10], attachment behavior is defined as "any form of behavior that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived of as better able to cope with the world. It is most obvious whenever the person is frightened, fatigued or sick, and is assuaged by comforting and caregiving" (p26–27). Consequently, attachment relationships give to the child a secure base from which to explore and learn about the physical and social world [14].

Attachment fulfills an important biological function; the care that parents show towards their offspring provides for security and survival in the environment in which they develop. The biological function of attachment, that guarantees the presence of this special affective bond between caregivers and children, is genetically predetermined and found in all individuals. However, this does not mean that attachment is equivalent to an instinct. For an attachment relationship to become established, it is required that the child experience continuous inter‐ actions with the caregiver [13,10]. One of the basic assumptions of Attachment Theory is that the quality of care provided by the adult caregiver is central for child's secure base behavior organization [15,16].

In this respect, the establishment of an attachment relationship is an interactive process involving both child and mother, or father, or other caregiver. An attachment relationship necessarily refers to the interaction that occurs between two, a dyad, and is possible that the child establish dyadic attachment relationships over many figures without missing their emotional bond with their primary caregiver [10,15]. According to Sroufe and Waters [17] the dyad is a unit biologically based, but organized by the effect of culture. Thereby Attachment Theory considers the tendency to establish interpersonal relationships as inherent to human nature, present in newborns and continuing throughout life course. There is debate about whether the importance of the quality of care provided to children and their secure base behavior organization can be generalized to all cultures [18]. The care given to infants, specifically in current relationships, is strongly influenced by characteristics of the culture in which the dyad is involved. Different cultures may have different perspectives about the role of children in family. Thus, cultural values can guide education models that encourage autonomy, while others would value education models that promote interdependence [19]. For example, families of middle and high socioeconomic status, from Western countries, value the individuality and independence of their children, while families of lower socioeconomic status value closeness and dependency. These educational differences reflect different expectations for child development, as well as show a difference in beliefs about development itself, manifested in different interactive practices [20]. Consequently, parents react to the requests of their children according to their knowledge about child development, but also according to the characteristics that they want to promote in their child [21]. In Western societies (European and North American) there is, for example, a greater tendency to interact face-to-face, with the valuation of language addressed to the child, and the use of objects [19]. In African societies, the maternal speech to children is used for the first time around 12 months, and until then the baby is carried in mother's lap or on her back [19]. In Asian societies the interaction with the infants non-verbal, focusing instead on physical contact [19].

Therefore, interventions for this population should serve to strengthen the emotional and affective bonds between parents and children, improve the motivation of caregivers, and increase the frequency, power, and contingency of their responses [6,7]. Also, interventions

Successful mutual adaptation between caregivers and children will promote caregiver effectiveness as guides and models for their children; it also will facilitate a stable system in an enduring relationship, enabling and sustaining a child's potential development [9]. The term 'caregiver' applies to all persons responsible for child care during the first years of life; for example, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, fosters or any other person who performs that role in the life of the child [10]. The process of providing care for young children has been conceptualized in Attachment Theory, through the study of affective bonds estab‐ lished between a child and those closest to them, the primary caregiver or secondary person in the child's family and social environment. Caregiver availability, how appropriately they respond to the child's needs, environmental demands, and the quality of the situations in which interaction occurs are all factors conceptualized when assessing caregiver sensitivity [6].

Sensitivity involves appropriate caregiver self-control in conflicts that could emerge in the interaction with children, as well as negotiation skills to help resolve those situations [6]. That is, sensitivity implies a co-regulation of emotions that emerge in conflicts, and that must be modulated by the caregiver. Sensitive caregivers help children to modulate their behaviors,

Attachment is evident in a child's tendency to maintain proximity and contact with the person who gives them the greatest sense of security, feeling of distress on separation, and joy in reunion [13]. For Bowlby [10], attachment behavior is defined as "any form of behavior that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived of as better able to cope with the world. It is most obvious whenever the person is frightened, fatigued or sick, and is assuaged by comforting and caregiving" (p26–27). Consequently, attachment relationships give to the child a secure base

Attachment fulfills an important biological function; the care that parents show towards their offspring provides for security and survival in the environment in which they develop. The biological function of attachment, that guarantees the presence of this special affective bond between caregivers and children, is genetically predetermined and found in all individuals. However, this does not mean that attachment is equivalent to an instinct. For an attachment relationship to become established, it is required that the child experience continuous inter‐ actions with the caregiver [13,10]. One of the basic assumptions of Attachment Theory is that the quality of care provided by the adult caregiver is central for child's secure base behavior

In this respect, the establishment of an attachment relationship is an interactive process involving both child and mother, or father, or other caregiver. An attachment relationship necessarily refers to the interaction that occurs between two, a dyad, and is possible that the child establish dyadic attachment relationships over many figures without missing their

should achieve successful mutual behavioral adaptation [8,9].

148 Parenting in South American and African Contexts

not only in positive moments, but also in times of stress [11,12].

from which to explore and learn about the physical and social world [14].

organization [15,16].

Regarding the distinct patterns of interaction found in various cultures, van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg [22] conducted a study in 32 countries of differing cultural histories (European, Latin American and Asian). It was found that despite all the different interactive practices observed, all of them were aimed at providing care and comfort to the infant. Researchers observed behaviors identified as contingent and syntonic. These findings confirm Bowlby's principles [15], that is, whatever the cultural origin, infants have a need for protection and their attention-getting methods are easily identified by adults.

However, care and educational strategies provided to children by caregivers, will be affected by the characteristics and demands of the environment in which they are inserted [23-25]. From this perspective, these authors describe development as a continuous process established over time.

In *The Bioecological Theory of Human Development* (BTHD [24]) Bronfenbrenner conceptualizes the models as P(person), P(process), C(context), and T(time). A person is defined as an element in constant evolution, wich influences and is influenced by the environment in which they are inserted. Context consists of five distinct aspects: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The latter refers to the dimension of time spent immersed in an environment, the person and their relationships, so to speak, the sociohistorical condi‐ tions of the time in which the person lives [26].

The microsystem is characterized as the environment in which a child has established interactive, face-to-face relationships, and where proximal processes occur (home and school, for example). The mesosystem is composed of these microsystems interacting among them. The exosystem context consists of those spaces not frequented by the child directly, but that indirectly influence their development (the parents' place of work and the rules of operation at their school, for example). The macrosystem consists of the society's prevailing cultural, norms, laws, and values.

were rejected or treated with ambivalence. However, parents can restructure their internal representation on the basis of experiencing significant and secure attachments after childhood. van IJzendoorn states that the internal representation of past experiences can be considered the results of a complex process of their personal history and memories, in which later experiences influence the perception of past events. In addition, he also notes that parenting includes not only the behavior of children taking-care, but also the attitudes towards child-

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In this internal model of relationships, the child constructs an image of himself, and of the established relationship, as well as how these relationships are trusted and secure. Therefore, the sensitivity of the caregiver works as a precursor to formation of affectional bonds [16].

Preventive interventions, especially those directed to early childhood, should be tested under objective, scientific criteria for their impact on the development of social capital of communities and for their relevancy as a strategy to overcome poverty in the most vulnerable populations. Currently, very little is known about the early development of children living in vulnerable conditions, since the proportion of childhood development research conducted within this population is minimal. Bornstein and Putnick [33] argue that, despite the consensus surround‐ ing the importance of earlychildhood years has on development throughout one's life, and the influence of early development environments, the settings and conditions of care surrounding children, there is still a surprisingly scarce amount of data regarding it. According to the authors, at the population level (for example, populations in national territories or locales) there is very little information about the diversity of experiences and conditions that benefit or hinder the wellbeing of children. For Bornstein and Putnick, this lack of information is

Some factors have been described as influencing the quality of the relationships between mother, father, and child. Poverty, for example, can lead to friction in relational quality [34]. The socioeconomic context is a characteristic of the microsystem that tends to be indicated as relevant in the interactions established with the child over the course of their development, modulating the caregiver-child relationships (proximal process) [29,35,36]. In studies made to establish an association between maternal sensitivity and infant attach‐ ment security in samples taken from high risk, low socioeconomic populations, specifical‐ ly in a meta-analysis addressed by Wolff and van IJzendoorn [14], were found significantly lower associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security compared to samples taken from middle and higher socioeconomic strata. Subsequent studies conducted by Diener, Nievar and Wright [37] corroborate the findings of the metaanalysis. Also, their results showed that the dyads with more positive resources in their families showed, among the three groups, the highest correlations between maternal sensitivity and attachment security. However, data from a study realized in Colombia by Posada and collaborators [38]comparing two samples, one middle class and one in extreme

rearing that can influence their early development [30].

**3. Parenting and vulnerability**

especially noticeable in developing countries.

The element of time is also organized into three distinct aspects and is described as having influence over the entire developmental process, since interactions occur at specific times, the microtime. Mesotime is a set of microtimes, while macrotime is the historic whole of time in which relations are forged. By definition then, macrotime bears a significant influence on microtime [25].

According to Bronfenbrenner [24], the quality of established relationships, constituents of the proximal processes, are the "engines of development". Nevertheless, Bronfenbrenner empha‐ sizes that these relationships are influenced by the context in which they occur, particularly in the microsystem, in which relationships are established face-to-face. However, the microsys‐ tem is itself influenced by other systems (meso, exo, and macro) that affect the quality of these relationships.

Olds [27] stated that the form of baby care and how their needs are identified and met influences the development context which surrounds it, as does the childhood context in which the parents developed. It appears that mothers/fathers that developed in hostile environments are more likely to adopt aggressive behavior and take minimal care for their children. Similarly, mothers who had poor relationships with their parents show less ability to bond with their own children and therefore have less maternal attitudes considered appropriate [28,27]. It is necessary to consider that the skills of caring for children result from a developmental process, namely the parents' own childhood [29].

Concerns about the patterns of attachment formed with parents and the relationships that are formed during the rest of life, and among various generations of the same family, and what the underlying processes are, is a topic of research interest. The process by which, intentional or otherwise, an earlier generations psychologically influences the attitudes and parenting behaviors of the next generation, has been called the Model of Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting [30]. This model of transmission has been studied in its three components and their relationships: adult caregivers' mental representation of attachment, parenting practices, and child attachment styles [31].

Studies consistently show a substantial effect of intergenerational transmission of parenting styles within the theory of adult attachment relationships. These findings suggest that the experiences parents had with their own parents´sensitivity, their attentiveness, rejection or ambivalence, generates an internal representation of the grandparents as responsive or unresponsive. The hypothesis behind this idea is that the internal representation of attachment influences the degree to which parents will be responsiveness to their own children [10,32].

According to van IJzendoorn [30], from the hypothesis of internal representation, it would be expected that parents who experienced a high degree of responsiveness/sensitivity in child‐ hood would be more open to the signals and needs of their own children than parents who were rejected or treated with ambivalence. However, parents can restructure their internal representation on the basis of experiencing significant and secure attachments after childhood. van IJzendoorn states that the internal representation of past experiences can be considered the results of a complex process of their personal history and memories, in which later experiences influence the perception of past events. In addition, he also notes that parenting includes not only the behavior of children taking-care, but also the attitudes towards childrearing that can influence their early development [30].

In this internal model of relationships, the child constructs an image of himself, and of the established relationship, as well as how these relationships are trusted and secure. Therefore, the sensitivity of the caregiver works as a precursor to formation of affectional bonds [16].
