Describes a program developed to help parents become effective playmates. Suggests that interactive play between infants and adults has numerous benefits, although these benefits will not occur automatically; they require parents to develop the appropriate skills. Proposes methods to facilitate play and make an important contribution to the…

Presents a model--consistent with formulations in developmental psychology and psychopathology--that extends attachment theory to late adolescence. Discusses attachment in the context of life-span development, stress, coping, and adjustment. Favors addressing methodological challenges in order to validate attachment-based developmental and…

Maintains that it is premature to conclude that Q-Sort is preferable to Strange Situation for the assessment of attachment security of infants in day care. (BB)

Two studies examine moderators of adjustment in children who have been in full-time day care since infancy. Results suggest that, for children in child care of reasonably good quality, home variables may be more important than center variables in moderating security of attachment. (BB)

Discusses seven steps that early childhood teachers and caregivers can take to help toddlers and their parents cope with the separation process. (BB)

Reviews recent attachment-related studies of early aggression. Longitudinal attachment studies indicate that risk factors identified in cross-sectional studies of aggressive school-age children, such as family adversity, parental hostility, parental depression, and child cognitive deficits, are already evident in infancy and predictive of later…

Infants' differential vocal response (DVR) towards their mother and a female stranger at 3 months of age has been predominantly investigated as an index of early cognitive functioning. The present study explored the relationship between DVR and different infant and mother indicators of the developing relationship quality in a sample of 23…

In applying an issue development model, it is suggested that strategic identification and communication of the Colonel Reb issue would have helped the University of Mississippi to smoother transition to a new athletic mascot.

There is growing evidence that insecurely attached children are less advanced in their social understanding than their secure counterparts. However, attachment may also predict how individual children use their social understanding across different relationships. For instance, the insecure child's social-cognitive difficulties may be more…

As educators endeavor to engage an increasingly diverse student population, the curricular inclusion of elements of popular culture has been found to represent a particularly meaningful and successful approach. Research has consistently documented how utilizing issues of interest to students enhances affective links to the classroom and engenders…

School readiness and functioning in children diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) are important issues due to the dramatic impact RAD has on multiple areas of development. The negative impact of impaired or disrupted early relationships, characterized by extreme neglect, abuse, parental mental illness, domestic violence, and repeated…

This paper describes the Netherlands' Pyramid Project, a classroom-based early intervention program which integrates nursery school and primary school organization and content for 3- to 6-year-olds who need special support, such as ethnic or language minority (allochtone) children and children from disadvantaged situations. Section 1 of the paper…

This study examined both maternal and child interaction styles, focusing on the association between differences in maternal level and quality of involvement and the synchrony and affective quality of child interaction behaviors. The subjects were 55 mother-child dyads in which the children (ages 2-5) had been referred to a mental health center…

A longitudinal investigation focused on the etiology of psychiatric and behavioral disorders in a sample of 190 children at risk for developmental problems. Data collection began during pregnancy and included assessments of: (1) parental personality, intelligence, and parenting attitudes; (2) parent-child interaction and relationship quality; (3)…

Reviewed are studies describing how forms and features of child care systems can influence the development of social competency with peers during the infancy to preschool periods of development. Interactions between the child care and familial systems in influencing social competency with peers are also examined. Sections of the review focus on…