Maternal reports of adaptive behaviours in young children: urban–rural and gender comparisons in Italy and United States

We compared how 182 Italian and US American urban and rural firstborn 20‐month‐old girls and boys cope with the demands of their environment through their adaptive behaviours in everyday activities. Using the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, we collected maternal reports of children's communication, daily living, socialization, and motor skills. Three sets of main effects (and no interactions) emerged. With respect to country, Italian children scored higher than US American children in adaptive communication and motor skills. With respect to region, urban children showed higher adaptive motor skills than rural children, and rural children showed higher adaptive daily living skills than urban children. Finally, with respect to gender, girls scored higher on an adaptive behaviour composite as well as adaptive communication skills, but boys higher in adaptive motor skills. We set these country, region, and gender main effects in the context of a discussion of developing adaptive behaviours in young children. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.