IGNORING CHILDREN'S BEDTIME CRYING: THE POWER OF WESTERN-ORIENTED BELIEFS

Abstract

Ignoring children's bedtime crying (ICBC) is an issue that polarizes parents as well as pediatricians. While most studies have focused on the effectiveness of sleep interventions, no study has yet questioned which parents use ICBC. Parents often find children's sleep difficulties to be very challenging, but factors such as the influence of Western approaches to infant care, stress, and sensitivity have not been analyzed in terms of ICBC. A sample of 586 parents completed a questionnaire to investigate the relationships between parental factors and the method of ICBC. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Latent variables were used to measure parental stress (Parental Stress Scale; J.O. Berry & W.H. Jones, 1995), sensitivity (Situation-Reaction-Questionnaire; Y. Hänggi, K. Schweinberger, N. Gugger, & M. Perrez, 2010), Western-oriented parental beliefs (Rigidity), and children's temperament (Parenting Stress Index; H. Tröster & R.R. Abidin). ICBC was used by 32.6% (n = 191) of parents in this study. Parents' Western-oriented beliefs predicted ICBC. Attitudes such as feeding a child on a time schedule and not carrying it out to prevent dependence were associated with letting the child cry to fall asleep. Low-sensitivity parents as well as parents of children with a difficult temperament used ICBC more frequently. Path analysis shows that parental stress did not predict ICBC. The results suggest that ICBC has become part of Western childrearing tradition.

Keywords: Croyances Culturelles, Stress Parental et Sensibilité Parentale; Ignorar el Llanto de los Niños a la Hora de Dormir; Ignorer les Pleurs des Enfants au Moment de Se Coucher; Ignorieren des kindlichen Weinens beim Einschlafen; Pleurs Contrôlés; Schlaf von Säuglingen; Sommeil des Bébés; controlled crying; creencias culturales; cultural beliefs; estrés y sensibilidad de los padres; ignoring children's bedtime crying; infants sleep; kontrolliertes Weinen; kulturelle Überzeugungen, elterlicher Stress und Sensitivität; llanto controlado; parental stress and sensitivity; sueño de los infantes; المعتقدات الثقافية- الإجهاد الأبوي والحساسية; تجاهل بكاء الأطفال وقت النوم; مراقبه البكاء; نوم الرضع; コントロールされた泣き; 乳児の睡眠; 受控哭泣; 嬰兒睡覺; 子どもが就寝時に泣くのを無視すること; 忽視兒童睡前哭鬧; 文化信念; 文化的信念; 父母壓力和敏感度; 親のストレスと感受性.