The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions…

Incarcerated mothers represent a rapidly growing sector of the prison population. This review of the literature presents research examining the psychological and socio-emotional well-being of children with an incarcerated mother, highlighting risk and protective factors at different stages of children's development. Child outcomes are reviewed…

This literature review focuses on factors found to be associated with individual differences in infant night waking. Infant night waking that requires parent intervention to assist the infant to return to sleep is of special concern to parents because of the sleep deprivation and fragmentation that they experience. Both intrinsic and extrinsic…

Studied maternal sensitivity as it related to the quality of attachment between 48 twelve-month-old infants and their mothers. Results suggested that different styles of maternal response to infant cues characterize secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant attachment groups. (RJC)

Children with mothers who were instructed to interact in a minimal manner with their children displayed distress sooner and played less with their age-mates than did children with mothers who interacted in a minimal manner but were not instructed to do so. Participants were 36 female and 36 male toddlers of 15-18 months of age and their mothers.…

Three studies examined adrenocortical activity in infants. Morning naps were associated with decreases in salivary cortisol. Riding for 40 minutes in a car lowered salivary cortisol concentrations. Thirty minutes of maternal separation in the laboratory resulted in higher salivary cortisol concentrations than did 30 minutes of play with the mother…

Seventy 15-month-old infants were studied at home before starting child care, during adaptation (mothers present) and separation (first 9 days without mothers) phases, and 5 months later. Security of infantmother attachment was assessed before and 3 months after child care began. In the separation phase, salivary cortisol rose over the first 60…

This study examined associations between foster mothers' emotional investment, assessed when foster children were age 2, and foster children's representations of self and others, assessed when children were age 5. Caregiver investment was assessed using a semi-structured interview called the ''This is My Baby'' interview (TIMB; Bates, B., &…

Based on data obtained on a sample of 63 mother-infant dyads, concludes that separation anxiety is multiply determined by characteristics of the mother, the infant, and the employment situation and that variation in anxiety has consequences for the development of attachment relationships. (RH)

Studied behavior of infants with insecure-avoidant attachments who were reunited with their mothers after having been placed in a strange situation away from the mothers. Infants with extensive nonparental care experience displayed more stressful behavior in reunion episodes than did infants with less nonparental care experience. (GLR)

This study investigated the relations between toddlers' degree of attachment to their mothers and their development of an attachment to a security blanket. Seventy-four 18-month-olds were separated from their mothers three times; the third time the toddlers were left for 5 minutes in an unfamiliar playroom with their blanket and with a stranger.…

Parents' reactions to brief separations from their infant children were investigated in this study. Participants included a total of 16 female and 16 male 10-month-old infants, together with their mothers and fathers. From the pool of 64 parents, one parent in each family was randomly chosen to serve as subject. The selection of subjects was made…

Examined the influence of social context variables on separation responses in nine-month-old infants. Indicated that nine month olds need not be highly stressed by being put in a new setting with a substitute caregiver. Use of procedures practiced in a model day care program effectively buffeted infant stress responses under individual and group…

Eighty infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers. Results suggested that there were no negative cumulative effects of repeated separations. The children seemed to adapt to repeated separations following the stressful experience with their first separation. (GLR)

Examined the effects of maternal employment and separation anxiety on maternal interactive behavior and infant attachment in 73 mother-infant pairs. Employed mothers who reported high levels of separation anxiety were more likely than low-anxiety mothers to exhibit intrusive behaviors. Although employment was not directly related to attachment,…