We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends 2014, taking place in Porto, Portugal, from 4 to 6 of April. Psychology, in our time, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral…

This article focuses on the remarkable story of a deeply disorganized child, Rachel, and her experience in foster care with Janet and Paul Mann, founders of the Children's Ark. Rachel and her mother were referred to the Ark, an innovative intervention center for at-risk families, when Rachel was 10 months old. After 11 months at the Ark, Rachel…

In an effort to understand the emotional impact of abuse, many studies have been conducted to investigate the type of emotional problems suffered by abused children and to identify variables which may make them susceptible to damage. For example, studies have correlated emotional problems with age at which abuse occurred and with the type and…

Follow-up of 22 children for whom protective daycare was sought suggested that mandatory protective daycare had hastened,but not caused, the removal of children. It was hypothesized that reactions to the placement exacerbated the already strained mother-infant relationships, leading to increased abuse and neglect. (Author/CL)

An ethological or behavioral approach views childhood emotional outbursts as conflict between avoidance and attachment behavior on the part of the child. The classification of the level of motivation may produce a more useful diagnosis than standard psychiatric categories of behavior. This approach can also be applied to children diagnosed as…

Studied the effects of experimentally manipulated maternal social support on the development of infant attachment in low SES mothers. Examined the possibility that the influence of maternal support varies depending on infant irritability and maternal ego level. Findings provide experimental evidence regarding the importance of social support on…

Examined the effect on father-infant relationships of a parent training program on infant massage and bathing. Infants in the treatment group greeted fathers with more eye contact, smiles, vocalizing, reaching, and orienting responses and showed less avoidance behavior than did control group infants. Fathers in the treatment group showed greater…

Describes one of the units of the children's home operated by the Borough of Knowsley, England. This unit, which serves adolescents with emotional and social problems, is based on six models that address attachment, environment, education, responses to stress, and grief. The unit's key functions are to support children, investigate children's…

The authors hypothesized that masculine gender role stress would mediate the relationship between insecure attachment and controlling behaviors in a sample of men who batter. To examine this hypothesis, 143 men who were court mandated to attend a batterers' intervention program in a northeastern state completed measures including the Controlling…

Bereavement researchers have made some significant advances in the understanding of the dynamics and the processes of managing grief. In this article, the author presents three of these advances that are central to a discussion of adolescent grief and of preventive interventions: (1) Increasingly, both clinical and research evidence indicate that…

This doctoral research paper reviews the empirical literature examining intergenerational transmission of attachment styles. The relationship between adult caregivers' internal representations of attachment as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview and their infants' attachment status as measured by the Strange Situation procedure has been…

Separation conflicts of adolescents and the use of time-limited psychotherapy with the specific aim of promoting self-differentiation and autonomy are discussed. (JMF)

This paper reviews research suggesting that parents' adaptation to their children's diagnoses has been found to predict both family well-being and the children's attachment security. A parent group intervention designed to promote adaptation among such parents is then described, including the rationale, goals, and guidelines of the eight-session…

"Traumatic bonding" is defined as "the evolution of emotional dependency between...a child and an adult [in] a relationship characterized by periodic sexual abuse." Maintains that the concept holds promise for explaining confusing dynamics of incest. Demonstrates ways in which traumatic bonding can be applied to cases of incest…

Reviews and discusses the basic dimensions of Bowlby's theory of infant attachment. Provides an overview of the basic definitions and propositions of his theory, in addition to the clinical applications of his theory to the field of early education and intervention with at-risk children and their families. (EV)