Placing Observations of Joint Engagement in Cultural Contexts

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Measurement of developmental skills across cultural groups is conceptually and methodologically challenging. Global constructs rarely extend beyond norms established from Western research findings. However, it is crucial that researchers identify culturally specific child rearing contexts that influence early caregiver-child interactions that support early language and social-communication development and predict later childhood outcomes.
The Joint Engagement Rating Inventory (JERI) is a collection of 32 7-point rating scale items that characterize caregiver-child interactions. Items are grouped in four clusters: joint engagement, child behaviors, caregiver support, and dyadic processes. JERI items have been successfully applied to video recorded caregiver-child interactions in studies of early development, diagnostic differences, and cultural aspects of early interactions.
This panel will present three papers to illustrate the process of adapting the JERI for observations of varying contexts. Paper 1 details how the JERI was used as an outcome measure in a community-based parent-coaching intervention study with a diverse sample of families of children at risk for autism across British Columbia, Canada. Paper 2 reports how the JERI is being used by local teams in Europe, Asia, and Africa as part of a World Health Organization caregiver training study targeting families with children with developmental delays. Paper 3 focuses on interactions from low-income ethnic minority households in the United States, in which existing JERI items were complimented with new culturally specific items rating respeto. The discussion will highlight the benefits and challenges of modifying established protocols, like the JERI, to enhance observations of cultural aspects of interactions.

Sub Unit

• Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Chair

• Katharine Suma, University of Georgia

Discussant

• Lauren B. Adamson, Georgia State University

Individual Presentations

• Adapting the JERI for PACE Coaching, a Community-Based Project for Children at Risk for Autism - Presenting Author: Paola Colozzo, University of British Columbia (UBC); Non-Presenting Author: Pat Mirenda, University of British Columbia (UBC); Non-Presenting Author: Veronica Smith, University of Alberta; Non-Presenting Author: Karen Kalynchuk, University of British Columbia

• Measuring Caregiver-Child Interaction in Early Intervention for Neurodevelopmental Disorders: The WHO JERI - Presenting Author: Erica Salomone, University of Milano-Bicocca; Non-Presenting Author: Michele Settanni, University of Turin; Non-Presenting Author: Federica Ferrara, University of Turin; Non-Presenting Author: Giulia Foletti, University of Turin; Non-Presenting Author: Chiara Servili, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

• Culture, Parenting, and Language: Respeto in Latinx Mother-Child Interactions - Presenting Author: Margaret O'Brien Caughy, University of Georgia; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine S Tamis-Lemonda, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Raul Rojas, University of Texas at Dallas; Non-Presenting Author: Roger Bakeman, Georgia State University; Non-Presenting Author: Lauren B. Adamson, Georgia State University; Non-Presenting Author: Daniel Frank Pacheco, University of Texas at Dallas; Non-Presenting Author: Margaret Tresch Owen, University of Texas at Dallas; Non-Presenting Author: Katharine Suma, University of Georgia; Non-Presenting Author: Amy Pace, University of Washington