The aim of this short-term longitudinal study was to explore the moderating role of insecure mother--child attachment (i.e., ambivalent and avoidant) in the relations between shyness and indices of adjustment difficulties in early childhood. Participants were 360 children (200 boys and 160 girls, M[subscript age]=4.72 years, SD=0.63) attending…

This paper explores the incidence of children's social, emotional and behavioural difficulties within areas of multiple deprivation in one Local Authority in Wales and the potential effects of targeted training interventions on the quality of adult-child interactions. The quality of adult-child interaction was measured pre and post-test using the…

Foster youth have attended schools for decades, but with the development of the local control funding formula (LCFF) and Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), they are now a group of students receiving the publicity and acknowledgment needed to improve their academic and social success. This study brings to light the importance of…

Parents' behaviors--particularly their emotion socialization behaviors (ESBs)--drive children's emotion socialization (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998). We propose that a major next step in the effort to promote healthy emotional development is to improve the field's understanding of the most proximal contributor to parent ESBs:…

Food is a powerful motivator in human functioning--it serves a biological need, as emotional support, and as a cultural symbol. Until recently, the term "comfort food" has been inadequately and unscientifically defined. In addition, the popular media have oversimplified the concept of comfort food as purely unhealthy food, often consumed…

Decades of research and clinical observations have demonstrated the harmful effects of parent-child separation on children's short- and long-term well-being (Society for Research in Child Development, 2018). Young children may be separated from their parents due to a variety of circumstances. This article provides recommendations for the…

Although the social-emotional competence of preservice early childhood professionals (ECPs) has been associated with the quality of their interactions with young children, there is limited understanding of these associations during preservice training. Utilizing a sample of students with career goals in early childhood (N=473), we examined the…

This research addresses caregivers and infants in the infant class in the day-care centre. It focuses on an intervention programme with the goal of getting to know the attitudes of caregivers and examining their influence on infants. In the programme, the caregivers will be given the possibility of sharing with peers and of learning contemporary…

Character strengths such as love, kindness and forgiveness promote emotional health, positive relationships and enhanced well-being for children and adults. Yet little research has investigated how early childhood educators practice love, kindness and forgiveness at work, or how they observe these virtues in children. A strength-spotting…

Background: Fathers are increasingly acknowledged as active participants in rearing young children, yet few observational measures recognize gender-differentiated parenting and can be used by practitioners and researchers to assess and improve fathers' parenting capacity in playful settings, in order to inform program effectiveness. Two potential…

Given the centrality of both parent-child attachment and emotion regulation in children's development and adjustment, it is important to evaluate the relations between these constructs. This article discusses conceptual and empirical links between attachment and emotion regulation in middle childhood, highlights progress and challenges in the…

Neuroscientific advances and child development studies show 0-6 years represents a sensitive period for the development of emotional competence--the ability to identify, understand, express and regulate emotion, all foundational to self-regulation. Research suggests optimum teaching of emotional competence and self-regulation skills from birth is…

In this study, we examined the relations between perceived social-class discrimination, attachment, and behavior problems in a sample of Chinese migrant children in Beijing (age [X-bar] = 11.48, SD = 1.12; n = 179). Data were collected from two migrant schools in Beijing. The participants completed measures of perceived social-class…

Social-emotional development is important to personal adjustment and well-being. Little has been written about social-emotional development in children and youth who are deafblind. The authors discuss factors in typical social-emotional development--attachment, empathy, and friendships--and how they may be challenged in children who are deafblind.…

Nurture Groups (NGs) are a short term, psychotherapeutic intervention aiming to provide reparative attachment experiences for children within an educational setting. The social skills of 16 children (aged between 6.0 and 9.75 years) were assessed through teacher ratings and children's self-report to hypothetical and challenging social situations.…