Background: This paper examined children's fearful, sad, and angry reactivity to interparental conflict as mediators of associations between their exposure to interparental aggression and physiological functioning. Methods: Participants included 200 toddlers and their mothers. Assessments of interparental aggression and children's emotional…

Relations among maternal depression, child attachment, and children's representations of parents and self were examined. Participants included toddlers and their mothers with a history of major depressive disorder (n=63) or no history of mental disorder (n=68). Attachment was assessed at 20 and 36 months and representations of parents and self…

This study examined interrelationships among children's cortisol reactivity and their psychological reactivity to interparental conflict in a sample of 208 first graders (mean age = 6.6 years). Assessments of children's psychological reactivity to conflict distinguished among their distress, hostile, and involvement responses across multiple…

This longitudinal investigation examined the effects of maternal depression and concomitant negative parenting behaviors on children's emotion regulation patterns and socioemotional functioning. One hundred fifty-one mothers and their children were assessed when children were approximately 1 1/2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-years of age. Ninety-three of the…

This study examined the interplay between interparental conflict and child cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict in predicting child maladjustment in a sample of 178 families and their kindergarten children. Consistent with the allostatic load hypothesis (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), results indicated that interparental conflict was…

The development of insecure attachment relationships in the offspring of mothers with major depressive disorder (MDD) may initiate a negative trajectory leading to future psychopathology. Therefore, the provision of theoretically guided interventions designed to promote secure attachment is of paramount importance. Mothers who had experienced …

Examined whether maltreated children were more likely than nonmaltreated children to develop poor-quality representations of parents and whether these representations predicted children's rejection by peers. Found that maltreated children's representations were more negative/constricted and less positive/coherent than nonmaltreated children's.…

Considers it inappropriate to focus on discrete symptomatology to infer presence of nascent or incipient infant psychopathology. Asserts that disorders in infancy are best conceptualized as relational psychopathologies, that is, as consequences of dysfunction in parent-child-environment system. Uses research in child maltreatment to illustrate the…

Mother-child play of 12-month-old infants (N = 130) from maltreating (N = 78) and nonmaltreating (N = 52) families was analyzed as a context that integrates infants' developing social and cognitive skills. Play was coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms. No group differences were found in infants' play maturity. Infants from…

Aim of this study was to obtain direct observations of attachment and exploration behaviors exhibited in a strange situation by children with Down's syndrome and a control group of normal children. (JH)

Demonstrates how a transactional developmental psychopathology perspective that focuses on the young child's resolution of stage-salient issues can be applied to the identification and treatment of psychopathology in early childhood. (PCB)

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations of mother-child relationship quality, self-esteem, social competence, and maladjustment among maltreated (n = 206) and nonmaltreated (n = 139) school-aged children from low-income families. Results of the path analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that maltreatment at…

This study, which uses the organizational perspective, synthesizes major contributions to the examination of symbolic development in abused children. Focuses on the interrelationship between and the impact of maltreatment on children's cognitive, socioemotional, and linguistic development. (RWB)

Examined moral development in maltreated and non-maltreated 3- and 4-year-olds through observation of child compliance/noncompliance during a cleanup situation following play. Found that abused children exhibited less internalization than non-maltreated. Neglected children showed more negative affect than others. Found no group differences in…

Compared visual self-recognition in toddlers of depressed (DM) and nondepressed mothers (NDM). Found that DM toddlers showing self-recognition were more likely than NDM toddlers to display nonpositive affect. DM toddlers not showing self-recognition and who shifted affect in the postrouge condition were less securely attached to mothers with less…