A cross-cultural comparison of mothers’ beliefs about their parenting very young children

► We compared Italian and US mothers’ beliefs about interactions with their children. ► The measurement invariance of the Parental Style scale (PSQ) was first verified. ► Results showed that the scale was essentially invariant across cultures. ► Italian mothers reported that they interact with their children less than US mothers. ► Results confirmed that cultures influence parental stimulations and its evaluations. Parental beliefs are relevant to child development because they shape parenting behaviors and help to determine and regulate child cognitive and socioemotional growth. Here we investigated cross-cultural variation in Italian and U.S. mothers’ parental beliefs about their social and didactic interactions with their young children. To compare parental beliefs, the Parental Style Questionnaire (PSQ) was administered to samples of 273 Italian mothers and 279 U.S. mothers of 20-month-olds (55% male). To conduct substantive cross-cultural comparisons of beliefs, the measurement invariance of the PSQ was first established by hierarchical multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The PSQ was essentially invariant across cultures. Italian mothers reported that they engaged in both social and didactic behaviors with their young children less frequently than U.S. mothers. Results of our study confirm that mothers in different cultures differentially value parental stimulation and its relevance for early child development.