Learning about a child's condition and raising a child with a developmental disability can be challenging and emotionally overwhelming, but systematic support programs for parents are practically nonexistent. We find that providing support for parents should be an important public health priority which should be made available through educational,…

Caregiver-child relationships offer the first opportunity for a healthy start and the possibility for a secure attachment. Balanced and healthy dyadic emotional communication is referred to as "emotional availability" (EA; Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). EA in a family is enhanced when there is lower stress, often addressed…

Breaking bad news can be one of the more difficult aspects of being a school psychologist. Whether it is the first or the hundredth time delivering such news, these conversations can be uncomfortable and daunting communication tasks. The comfort level with delivering bad news is important to consider. Discomfort can lead a school psychologist to…

Not all mothers who struggle with drug addiction have difficulties parenting, but many of them do. Moreover, evidence-based parenting programs that have proven efficacious with other parent populations often fail with mothers who are fighting chronic substance addiction, perhaps because of the neurobiological changes in neural reward circuitry…

The First Steps Domestic Violence Program (First Steps) was developed to address the mental health needs of infants and toddlers entering a domestic violence shelter. When domestic violence occurs, the primary caregiver's ability to help restore a sense of safety for the infant--through regulation of the infant's emotions, sleep, arousal, and…

In this article, the authors tell the story of one family's journey toward healing using the Child First home visiting and Circle of Security Parenting interventions. Parents with complex trauma histories frequently float through services for years looking for guidance to help them address their struggles. Often, these services do not offer…

For parents living with children diagnosed with autism, advocating for their child presents a new reality in parenthood, often unexpected and with more questions than answers. Once they have passed the various stages of denial and sadness, questioned the experts, and finally accepted the reality of the challenges their child will face, it is time…

Research on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and in particular, exposure with response prevention for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), has only been systematically evaluated in children and adolescents ages 7-17. These treatments do not address the unique characteristics of young children with OCD. This paper discusses…

This study evaluated benefits of a preventive intervention to the living standards of recently separated mothers. In the Oregon Divorce Study's randomized experimental design, data were collected 5 times over 30 months and evaluated with Hierarchical Linear Growth Models. Relative to their no-intervention control counterparts, experimental mothers…

Outlines the difficulties parents face in the first year after childbirth and describes a postpartum intervention program. Obstacles faced by the program due to cultural prohibitions against acknowledging parental ambivalence to a newborn child are also discussed. (Author/DB)

The authors document the conceptualization, over time, of "fussy baby syndrome" and the establishment of a Fussy Baby Clinic. Excessive infant crying (commonly called colic) typically subsides in the first 3 months but may set up a cycle of parent-infant distress. Families studied felt a high degree of emotional stress and physical exhaustion;…

This paper briefly reviews the two assumptions involved in the use of a stress management approach with parents of the developmentally disabled, i.e., that many parents are subject to high stress and that stress interferes with the person's functioning. A discussion of possible stressors and possible effects of stress are outlined, e.g., health…