A failure-to-thrive 30-month-old was observed in interaction with his unempathic mother, showing the pathological consequences of his openness to social influences (i.e., the child's attachment to a sadistic mother could later produce masochistic tendencies which could be reenacted to reproduce the feelings associated with mother's affection).…

Noting that during adolescence the importance of feeling intimate or close to a relationship partner (mothers, fathers, or friends) increases and that closeness to parents is associated with positive adolescent outcomes, this study examined how features of adolescent relationships are related to adolescents' experience of subjective closeness in…

Reviews studies of maternal employment, processes in child care settings, and the link between children's development and family and child care influences. Critically evaluates the risk for children's social and emotional development that may result from infant child care. (BB)

Reviews attachment theory's conceptual foundations and key empirical findings while tracing important conceptual and methodological advances. Results of contemporary theory-guided studies of adult affect regulation, social competence, and intergenerational continuity are selectively reviewed. Considers implications of these findings for advancing…

This literature review examines the ways in which children's personal premise systems concerning the nature of relationships develop through the process of attachment to the caregiver. The manner in which the premise system becomes a generalized model of self and others is considered. (Author/GLR)

Reviews and critiques the approaches of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases to attachment disorders and finds that they have not made use of findings from developmental research on attachment in developing their criteria. Presents an alternative system of classifying attachment…

Attachment dimensions and styles, parental caregiving styles, and acculturation were investigated among 155 Mexican American and White college women. Results showed no differences between groups on attachment dimensions or styles. For both groups, only paternal variables were associated with attachment security. Implications of measurement and…

Reviews "Children in Long-Term Foster Care: Emotional and Social Development" by Colette McAuley, an intensive study of 19 children in middle childhood in their first two years of foster placement in Northern Ireland. Maintains that the book's strengths include its discussion on interviews with children, the applicability of attachment…

Notes that "Loveys," or transitional comfort objects, are an important prop in some children's emotional and intellectual development. Provides developmental information, and describes types of children who typically use loveys, challenges to child care programs when the object comes to school, and how children give up their attachments.…

Describes developmental interventions, attachment issues, curricular ideas, and nutritional considerations that can facilitate successful integration into U.S. early childhood environments of children adopted from overseas. Asserts that early childhood educators can nurture adopted children's development by arranging a conducive environment,…

Work in developmental psychiatry and psychology has increasingly focused on how internal representations of early experiences with primary figures of childhood affect relationship formation in later childhood and adulthood. Investigations of the reflective self function, which involves mental states in which individuals become the subject of their…

As growing numbers of mothers enter the workforce, understanding the effects of maternal employment on children and adolescents has become increasingly important. The effects of maternal employment after infancy on adult attachment, and how these effects vary as a function of children's personality style are examined in this paper. It was…

Infants have definite personality characteristics from birth onward. Despite wide variation in infant temperament styles, ranging from easy to difficult, responsive parents and non-parental caregivers can ensure positive emotional-social development. This paper, which reviews various theories and research on personality development in infants and…

The literature review examines the relationship of neurological impairment in young children with their social and emotional development. It identifies disorders of interaction and/or attachment and disorders of independence/dependence as specific maladaptive social and emotional states associated with neurological impairment. Three theoretical…

Literature on parent-toddler affiliative behavior which reflects the dynamic and reciprocal nature of parent-toddler interaction is reviewed in this paper, including an ecosystems perspective. Affiliative behaviors for parents and toddlers are defined with respect to the verbal and physical behaviors of both parent and toddler. Also, research…