A systematic review of the concept of self-regulation in infants between 0 and 36 months in Latin America

SANTOS J.A.; SMULSKI, M.C.; HERMIDA, M.J.; PETETTA D.R.; SEGRETIN, M.S.; LIPINA, S.J.

INFANT BEHAVIOR & DEVELOPMENT

Elsevier

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2024

0163-6383

This paper aims to identify how cognitive and emotional self-regulation processes in infants from 0 to 36 months are conceptually and operationally defined within the Latin American academic context. This goal is considered relevant since 1) there still needs to be an academic discussion on self-regulation´s conceptual and operational definitions; 2) It is important to characterize the location of researchers working with Latin American samples to explore whether they use theoretical models and designs adapted to the particularities of the region or from other social and cultural contexts; 3) It is important to discuss whether particularities in the definition of the concept related to the region´s social and cultural diversity justify a differentiated perspective or approach regarding the self-regulatory construct. With this proposal, a systematic review based on the PRISMA methodology was implemented. The search for articles focused on publications on self-regulatory development from 2000 to date in the databases and search engines Scielo, Redalyc, PubMed, and Ebsco. Twenty-two papers that met the selection criteria were selected. The main findings were the compatibility of the sample with some observed trends, on the one hand, the underrepresentation of the Latin American population in high-impact publications on the subject, even though from 2010 to date, there is evidence of growth in publications on SR in the analyzed sample. On the other hand, the sample also allows us to infer a disparate representation of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the existing publications since only eight countries in the region have at least one publication with the first author from the country. Of those eight, two concentrate almost 60% of the first authors in the publications. Regarding the empirical studies, more than 60% of the samples belong to only two of the eight represented countries. Finally, concerning the adaptation to the cultural context of the research, we found that a small number addresses this variable in a specific and significant way. However, even in these cases, the approach is carried out based on models and hypotheses that are limited when it comes to understanding the Latin American region´s cultural, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity.