Children and young adults who are 'looked after' can present teachers and teaching assistants with a variety of day-to-day classroom challenges and a range of complex behaviours due to adverse childhood environments. This group of vulnerable young people have very complex social and emotional behaviours that require a considered approach of…

In South Africa, many infants spend more time with carers other than their parents due to socio-economic demands on mothers. Carers thus play an important role in the infants' lives. This qualitative study explored child carers' knowledge and understanding of the 'first 1000 days' initiative and their perception of themselves as attachment…

Aim: Educational practitioners are increasingly aware of trauma experiences in students as a factor in child disturbance and schooling problems. This discussion paper aims to clarify definitions of trauma and differentiate them from other adverse childhood experiences (ACE), describe trauma impact in terms of clinical outcomes (PTSD, emotional and…

A growing body of a literature recognises the importance of special educational needs (SEN) of adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Therefore, there is a current need for more in-depth insights into the factors that may help meet the SEN, well-being, and educational inclusion of ADHD students. The aim of this…

Background: Stability in foster care is paramount, since it enables children with a history of maltreatment to experience secure attachment relationships, and decreases the risk for behavioral and emotional problems when growing up. Objective: We investigated whether foster care interventions play a role in enhancing foster placement stability, in…

Many children who enter the care system and are subsequently adopted have had exposure to a range of potentially traumatising experiences including domestic violence, abuse, neglect and loss of key caregivers. There are also an increasingly high number of adopted children presenting with the impact of intrauterine exposure to alcohol, drugs and…

There is limited research examining stability and change in attachment security in middle childhood. The current study addresses this gap using data from a 3-year longitudinal study. Specifically, we examined stability and change in secure base script knowledge during middle childhood using a sample of 157 children (Wave 1 mean age [M[subscript…

The ecological knowledge of those who interact with ecosystems in everyday-life is situated in social and cultural contexts, as well as accumulated, transferred and adjusted through work practices. For them, ecosystems represent not only places for living but also places for working and defining themselves. This paper explores psychological…

The central focus of this study was the perceptions of emotional security among 64 elementary school-aged children exposed to the hurricanes that affected the US Gulf Coast in 2005. Specifically, we examined the representational qualities of attachment, exploration, and caregiving as assessed with a narrative story-stem task in relation to…

Research Findings: Adults' attitudes about attachment relationships are central to how they perceive and respond to children. However, little is known about how attachment styles are related to teachers' attitudes toward and interactions with infants and toddlers. From a survey of 207 students taking early childhood (EC) courses at 4 U.S.…

We examined the extent to which fathers can be taught and encouraged to develop positive relationships with their children, especially in infancy, and the effects of this fathering intervention on infant development. A multifaceted relationally focused intervention was used to assist fathers in Vietnam to engage in responsive direct and indirect…

An attachment-based, psychotherapeutic parent education course was created for incarcerated mothers and fathers to help improve their ability to provide positive parenting and a more stable home environment for their children. The current study assessed the effects of this parenting curriculum on parents' reported tendencies to be abusive, their…

Background: Court-involved students, such as those in foster care and the juvenile justice system, generally experience high incidences of both acute and chronic trauma, adversely impacting their educational well-being and overall academic trajectory. Utilizing perceptions of teachers and other school staff, this study explores the challenges and…

The 2010 "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill greatly affected the Gulf Coast, and the news media reported information to wide audiences. Students enrolled in an online Environmental Geoscience course in fall 2010 voluntarily participated in a Gulf oil spill survey. More than 92% of the students (N = 77; 83 total enrollment), who were primarily…

It has been argued that humor is beneficial in the classroom because it increases social bonding between instructor and student, salience of information, and ultimately recall and retention. The current study sought to add to the literature by empirically testing some assumptions about humor as a pedagogical tool. Specifically, we predicted that…