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…

Parent-toddler groups constitute a primary intervention programme whose target is to support and encourage the parent-toddler relationship. Toddlerhood is a developmental period when major, crucial changes take place regarding how children function, as well as their relationship to their parents (especially to their mother). The present paper…

This article describes a model for supporting parents and their infants during separations due to temporary foster care. Using a case example, the authors describe a model for visit coaching, including their process for assessment and strategies used for intervention. The lessons learned are: (a) that individual parents can present very…

Developed and validated Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale with parents of sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, and college freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both showed distinctive change patterns with child age.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between attachment to parents and psychological separation in college students. Three hundred sixty-eight undergraduate students completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) and the Psychological Separation Inventory (Hoffman, 1984). Results…

Examines the relationship between parental attachment histories and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The Adult Attachment Interview was given to 27 mothers and fathers with children 3.5 years old. Models that included fathers' attachment histories predicted more variance in kindergarten teachers' descriptions of children's…

Based on the view that every adopted child will have been exposed to psychological pain as a result of separation or other hurtful experiences, this book examines issues relating to adoption, attachment, and child development. The book offers guidance to adoptive and foster parents on helping their children through separation, loss, and trauma in…

This study examined the relationship between attachment security to both parents and feelings of loneliness throughout the transition to college, and the impact of the presence or absence of a physical separation from parents. A total of 125 adolescents completed two measures of attachment--Mother-Father-Peer Scale and Inventory of Parent and Peer…

The leavetakings and reunions of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their parents were observed as 56 children were dropped off and picked up at nursery school. During the pilot phase of the study, shorthand running records were made of the behaviors of each child and his or her parent for all of their leavetaking and reunion episodes. From 100…