American Indian and Alaska Native Programs
Picture of an American Indian pottery, provided by Christof's.
PROJECT TITLE: CULTURE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN ONE AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBE
FUNDING SOURCE: ACYF (Early Head Start)
DATES OF FUNDING: 1998-2001
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): Christina Mitchell, Ph.D.
CENTER STAFF INVOLVED: Marjorie Bezdek, Cecelia Big Crow, Calvin Croy, Amy Dethlefsen, Robert Emde, Christina Mitchell, Angela Sam, Michelle Sarche, and Paul Spicer

SPECIFIC AIMS/RESEARCH GOALS:
The purpose of this study is to answer the following 3 questions:

  1. What is normative infant and toddler development within this tribal culture;
  2. What are the culture-specific values and parenting practices that help shape the developmental pathways and developmental competencies of infants and toddlers in the tribal culture; and
  3. What are the culture-specific values and teaching practices that help shape developmental competencies in the tribe.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

  1. Standardized interviews and developmental assessments for 120 families of 2-year-old children;
  2. Ethnographic interviews and home visits with 30 of these same families;
  3. Participant-observation in child care centers

PARTICIPANTS:

Participants include the families of 2-year-old children from the tribe.

MEASURES:

  1. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development II.
  2. The Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment.
  3. Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment.
  4. Health and safety practices.
  5. Household composition.
  6. Routines.
  7. The Parenting Stress Index.
  8. Parent-child interaction.
  9. Education, income, and marital/relationship status.
  10. Stressful life events.
  11. Mental health and substance abuse.
  12. Open-ended ethnographic interviews with families.
  13. Participant-observation in child care centers.

PUBLICATIONS:

None at this time.