Changes across the first year of life in infants’ daily activities and social contacts among middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican families

Abstract

This study examines the developmental changes in daily activities and social contacts of 60 middle-class Anglo and Puerto Rican infants at three timepoints during the first year of life. Individual Growth Models were applied to four activity variables: Self-feeding, Sleeping in Own Room, Dyadic Interaction, and Multiparty Interaction. Results indicated that infants’ time spent on Self-feeding and Sleeping in Own Room increased substantially in both groups across the first year. However, the growth rate of Self-feeding differed according to infants’ cultural background and gender, whereas the increasing rate of Sleeping in Own Room varied as a function of both culture and maternal working hours each week. Multiparty and Dyadic Interaction were stable over time. However, Puerto Rican infants on average spent more time in Multiparty Interactions than did Anglo infants. In terms of their social contacts, Puerto Rican infants spent more time with relatives than did Anglo infants.