Homes of TMR children: comparison between American and Japanese families.

Abstract

A cross-cultural study was conducted to examine the extent to which certain environment-child development relationships can be generalized across two cultures. Participants were 103 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) children and their families in Japan and 88 TMR children and their families in the United States. The relation between cognitive stimulation and cultural opportunities at home and the children's social competence appeared to generalize across both cultures; however, the relation between affective and emotional aspects of parental behavior and the children's emotional adjustment appeared to be culture-specific. The cross-cultural difference in home environment was interpreted in terms of qualitative difference in parental values and expectations regarding the children's behavior.