Research Findings: Two longitudinal studies are reported examining the effects of full-time day care in Mapuche and non-Mapuche families in Chile. First, the Magellan-Leiden Childcare Study (MLCS) used a sample of 95 mothers with children younger than 1 year old (n = 36 in day care). Second, we partially cross-validated our results in a large and…

Parental mentalizing, which is the capacity to understand behavior in terms of mental states and to reflect this back to a child through speech, is a key construct in child development. Adults with high mentalization promote children's secure attachment, mentalization and self-regulation. This study describes this competency in a sample of…

Parenting is a multidimensional construct that includes practices, attitudes, and emotional capacity. The aims of the study were to examine variation within parenting through a person-centered approach and the extent to which child and family characteristics were associated with profiles of parenting as well as the link between parenting profiles…

Investigated the relationship between deaf children's "security of attachment" with their hearing parents and parental attitudes toward deafness. Children ranged in age from 20 to 60 months. Found marked differences within individual dyads of mother-child/father-child relationships. Also found negative correlations between parents'…

Examined attachment relationships of toddlers at 26 months to their child caregivers. Developed a scale describing safe haven and secure base functions of attachment relationships in child care. Found that this Safe and Secure Scale related to proximal indicators of child-care quality, and was a stronger measure than the child-caregiver Q-security…

This study tested a conceptual model of a psychosocial pathway to academic competence in preschool. Developmental theory and research with older children suggest that social and psychological factors could have a significant impact on young children's learning and school readiness. Children in 3 preschool classrooms (N = 31) participated. Mothers'…

Observed 62 children in 10 preschools and day care centers, and their interactions with their mothers (at home) and with teachers and peers (at school). Teachers rated children's social competence; children rated one another's likability. Regression analysis suggested that quality of child-teacher attachment relationships relates to prosocial…

Used regular telephone interviews over six months to examine processes through which recurrent episodes of otitis media influence children's attachment security. Found that recurrent otitis media negatively affected attachment security by increasing mothers' perceptions of their children as behaving more negatively. Parenting stress was not…