Across the country, placements in foster care are rising. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that 273,539 children in the U.S. entered foster care. In 34 percent of those cases, parental drug abuse was one of the factors leading to the child's removal from their family. Additionally, the U.S. Substance Abuse and…

Policy debates about undocumented immigration in the United States focus most often on adults and adolescents. Yet 5.5 million U.S. children currently reside with at least one undocumented immigrant parent, with 4.5 million of these children U.S.-born citizens. Given that children with undocumented parents constitute nearly one-third of all…

The issue of informant discrepancies about child and adolescent functioning is an important concern for clinicians, developmental psychologists, and others who must consider ways of handling discrepant reports of information, but reasons for discrepancies in reports have been poorly understood. Adolescent attachment and informant depressive…

How are children's lives altered when a parent goes off to war? What aspects of combat deployment are most likely to put children at risk for psychological and other problems, and what resources for resilience can they tap to overcome such hardships and thrive? To answer these questions, Patricia Lester and Lieutenant Colonel Eric Flake first…

A considerable amount of research has examined factors associated with the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders in children. The familial nature of anxiety has been well-established, with genetic studies showing that approximately 30% of the variance is accounted for by genetic factors. Research into the family environment documents…

This study examined the effectiveness of a culturally adapted Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for Latinos to reduce risks for alcohol and drug use in children. Latino families, predominantly Puerto Rican, with a 9- to 12-year-old child and a parent(s) with a substance abuse problem participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests were conducted…

Using attachment theory as a framework, this paper examines how pregnant adolescents' experiences of physical maltreatment during childhood influence the subsequent mother-infant relationship in 203 low-income adolescents followed from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy through the 1st year of parenthood. The relation between physical maltreatment…

Developed and validated Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale with parents of sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, and college freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both showed distinctive change patterns with child age.…

Family processes associated with childhood role reversal and related adult outcomes were examined in a community sample 128 adults using a semistructured interview exploring family, friend, and romantic relationships. Women showed stronger role reversal than men, and role reversal was stronger with mothers than with fathers. Role reversal of women…

Analyzed data from 11 studies of concordance of mother/father attachment to an infant based on the Strange Situation. Found that security of attachment, type of insecurity, and subcategory classification of security to one parent depended on the other parent. Discussed parenting styles and infant temperament. (BC)

Method: Sixteen studies on attachment in children with autism were reviewed, and ten studies with data on observed attachment security (N = 287) were included in a quantitative meta-analysis. Results: Despite the impairments of children with autism in reciprocal social interaction, the majority of the studies found evidence for attachment…