Objective: Children exposed to early institutional rearing are at risk for developing psychopathology. The present investigation examines caregiving quality and the role of attachment security as they relate to symptoms of psychopathology in young children exposed to early institutionalization. Method: Participants were enrolled in the Bucharest…

Adjustment to the transition from high school to military service in Israel was examined in a longitudinal study with a sample of 120 late-adolescent girls. During their senior year in high school (Time 1) the young women were administered the Adult Attachment Interview. Their coping and adjustment to the new environment were assessed (at two…

Research Findings: This study investigates the effect of the early home environment on self-regulation in preschoolers, and how self-regulation relates to later school achievement, while taking into account family resources. Participants were part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth…

Despite recognition of bullying as a serious school and social problem with negative effects on students' well-being and safety, and the overlap between aggressive bullying acts and delinquent behavior, few empirical studies test the applicability of criminological theories to explaining bullying. This limitation in research is especially evident…

This longitudinal investigation of 84 infants examined whether the effect of 12-month attachment on 18- and 24-month exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults varied as a function of newborn irritability. As expected, results revealed an interaction between attachment (secure vs. insecure) and irritability (highly irritable vs. moderately…

People's response to stress depends to a large extent on their sense of perceived control over the situations they encounter. This longitudinal study of 136 children (70 girls) examined associations between attachment patterns and maternal sensitivity at 12 months of age, and perceived primary and secondary control at 11 years of age. Compared…

Psychologists have long debated the role of early experience in social and cognitive development. However, traditional approaches to studying this issue are not well positioned to address this debate. The authors present simulations that indicate that the associations between early experiences and later outcomes should approach different…

Goodness of fit has been a key theoretical construct for understanding caregiver-child relationships. We developed an interview method to assess goodness of fit as a relationship construct, and employed this method in a longitudinal study of child temperament, family context, and attachment relationship formation. Goodness of fit at 4 and 8 months…

This article presents theoretical arguments and supporting empirical evidence suggesting that attachment experiences in early life may be important in the later development of self-regulation and conscientious behavior. Analyses of data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth…

Nighttime sleep awakenings and infant and family characteristics were measured longitudinally in more than 1,200 infants when the infants were 6, 15, 24, and 36 months old. By 6 months of age, the majority of children slept through the night, awakening their mothers only about once or twice per week. However, not all children followed this…

Continuity and intergenerational transmission of representations of attachment were examined in a longitudinal sample of 88 Mexican immigrant mothers and their children who participated in the local intervention group of the Early Head Start Evaluation Study. The authors interviewed mothers with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and Parent…

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of sudden parental bereavement on subsequent attainment of developmental competencies. This longitudinal study reports on 126 youth bereaved by sudden parental death (suicide, accident, or natural death) and 116 demographically similar nonbereaved controls assessed at 9, 21, 33, and 62 months after…

We set out to explore the meaning of the attachment categories in the Cassidy/Marvin strange situation procedure, as employed in the home, using data from a longitudinal study of children adopted into UK families up to the age of 42 months from Romanian institutions, and of adopted children without the experience of institutional care--both groups…

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the developmental risk pathway to depression by 16 years in offspring of postnatally depressed mothers. Method: This was a prospective longitudinal study of offspring of postnatally depressed and nondepressed mothers; child and family assessments were made from infancy to 16 years. A total of 702…

Longitudinal pathways between maternal mental health in infancy and offspring romantic relationship outcomes in adulthood were examined using a 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 196 mothers and their children. Structural equation modeling revealed that maternal mental health at 30 months was related to offspring relationship status and…