Being school-ready when transitioning to the primary school system has been associated with favourable outcomes during schooling and adult life. While children living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas may be at a higher risk of being less school-ready, research in the area has highlighted that not all children experience such a delay. This…

Divorce often creates significant stress that can have an impact on parent-child relationship satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive relationship between parental stress as measured by the Parenting Stress Index, 4th Edition, Short Form (PSI-4-SF) and the parent-child relationship satisfaction as measured by the…

The Parent-Child Relationally Informed Early Intervention was developed from the clinical application of attachment theory. The premise is to expand the responsiveness of parents and clinicians working with children who have developmental delays. It was evaluated via four single case studies (children aged 18-months to 6 years) using an AB(A)…

The Bird's Nest Drawing (BND; Kaiser, 1996) is an art-based technique developed to assess attachment security. In an attempt to expand the BND's validity, the authors explored the possible associations between parental representations and the BND's dimensions and attachment classifications in a sample of 80 young Israeli mothers. Positive…

The purpose of this study was to compare the parenting stress experienced by parents of 121 children from 5 to 9 years old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), comorbid ASD+ADHD, and typical development in different domains related to child and parent characteristics using the Parenting Stress…

Mothers of children diagnosed with autism (N = 104) reported higher levels of stress than mothers of typically developing children (N = 342) on 13 of 14 subscales of the "Parenting Stress Index." The only scores that did not differ were from the Attachment subscale, which indicates lack of emotional closeness and rather cold patterns of…

The purpose of this study was to describe reflections of nine American parents on the strengths, challenges, and strategies in parenting young children newly adopted from another country. Eight mothers and one father with an adopted child aged less than 3 years and home for less than 3 months completed standardized assessments measuring the…

Recent literature on the psychological adjustment of parents who have children with disabilities suggests that they encounter a range of challenges beyond those experienced by parents of typically developing children (Achiless, G.M., McLaughlin, M J , & Croninger, R.G. 2007; Brown & Pacini, 1989). This is particularly true when a special…

This study examined the effectiveness of a culturally adapted Strengthening Families Program (SFP) for Latinos to reduce risks for alcohol and drug use in children. Latino families, predominantly Puerto Rican, with a 9- to 12-year-old child and a parent(s) with a substance abuse problem participated in the study. Pre- and post-tests were conducted…

The purpose of this study was to compare how parental support, attachment of the parent, and the child's report regarding the quality of the parent/child relationship differentially relate to child and parent reports of the child's symptomatology. After controlling for those variables that covary with it, parental support was only significantly…

Observers used two Q-sorts to describe mothers' and infants' behavior at home. Mothers of more difficult children were less sensitive than other mothers. There was a strong relation between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment. Mothers of more secure infants noticed and enjoyed their babies more than mothers of less secure infants. (BC)

Examined Attachment Q-Set security scores as indexes of attachment security. Found that Q-Set scores (1) related positively to sensitive mothering and preschoolers' sociability toward mother during laboratory observations; (2) related negatively to children's negative affectivity during free play; and (3) were associated with levels of parenting…

Incarcerated mothers (n = 357) at a maximum-security prison participated in a study of the relationship between contact and parenting stress, using the parenting stress index for incarcerated women (PSI-IW; Houck & Loper, 2002). The study examined contact before incarceration and the frequency of telephone, letter, and visitation contact…

Examined the relationships between parental stress and the security of attachment relationships. Subjects were 33 mothers of children who were attending a preschool program for high-risk families. Found a negative relationship between the Child Domain section of the Parenting Stress Index and Attachment Q-set scores. Results highlighted the need…