The increase in the prevalence of smartphones and mobile devices has spurred changes in the caregiving environment of infants and young children, as phones and mobile devices are used at times during caregiving and in caregiving spaces. This use could create disruptions and cause distractions during parenting (termed technoference). This article…

Family systems research has identified two key processes (spillover and compensatory), linking interparental relationship quality to the parent-child relationship. However, previous research has focused on the parent as the sole initiator and had not often considered the role of the child in these processes. The present study adds to the…

Traditional provider-to-child models of early intervention (EI) service provision have been increasingly replaced by service guidelines that promote a broader family-centered approach to support improvement in the child's primary area of delay. These guidelines include working directly with caregivers and addressing needs of the family that might…

This study examined the relationship between young children's cognitive development and fathers' engagement in early childhood. The study examined fathers' home engagement patterns based on literacy, play, and caregiving activities when their children were 9-month-old and these patterns of engagement in 9-month-old were related to children's…

DC:0-5™: Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (ZERO TO THREE, 2016) emphasizes the centrality of relationships for young children's development and psychopathology. The authors share the story of a young child and his mother to illustrate the use of DC:0-5, with an emphasis on how…

The recent headlines about parent and child separation at the U.S. border has raised concern about the impact of such experiences on young children. In this article, the author provides the children's perspective of parental separation and loss and their experience of mourning during infancy and early childhood. Three vignettes illustrate how…

The present study examined the dyadic nature of fathers' and mothers' reported frequency of storybook reading by testing (1) the longitudinal association in parents' frequency of storybook reading when their children were 10.47 months old and 52.95 months old, (2) the interdependence between both parents' reported frequency of storybook reading,…

Adults need to recognize and understand the importance of the parent-child relationship in supporting infants and young children who are exposed to traumatic events. All children need the support, security, and safety that come with a consistent, emotionally available relationship. For young children who have a more limited understanding and…

Military deployments can necessitate prolonged family separations. The strain of separation is particularly acute for very young children and their parents. Reunions bring joy as well as challenges. The authors draw from their work with military families with young children to explore experiences of separating and reconnecting and the supports…

This article is an excerpt from the forthcoming book, "Mental Health in the Early Years: Challenges and Pathways to Resilience', by Gail L. Ensher, David A. Clark, and Melissa M. Luke with contributing authors. This excerpt includes the value of a family systems and an ecological perspective; provides an overview of social--emotional…

The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, a 45-year study of children born into poverty, offers a number of lessons for practitioners. Among these are the potency of early relationship experiences for predicting developmental outcomes and the fate of early experience following developmental change. This article describes the…

Infants and young children are vulnerable to multiple types of trauma, including neglect and sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Some believe that young children are not impacted by trauma and that, if they are, they will simply "grow out of it." Continuing research, however, clearly demonstrates that trauma can alter young children's…

Whereas previous research has examined the role that parenting and home environments play in explaining the relation between family socioeconomic status and children's language development in the United States, relatively little is known about the associations between these constructs in other cultures. This study tested an integrated model of…

This study examined the predictive significance of maternal sensitivity in early childhood for electrophysiological responding to and cognitive appraisals of infant crying at midlife in a sample of 73 adults (age = 39 years; 43 females; 58 parents) from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation. When listening to an infant crying,…

One way of increasing caregivers' language accessibility when interacting with a deaf child is through visual communication strategies. By using both a longitudinal and cross-sectional approach, this study will reveal which strategies deaf and hearing parents prefer and implement in their daily communication with their deaf children. First, the…