We examined the extent to which new mothers' recollections of their mothers' emotion socialization practices during childhood predict sensitive/supportive responses to their own toddlers in distressing situations both directly and indirectly via effects on mothers' social information processing about infant cry signals. Mothers' adult attachment…

Background: Though noted in the clinical literature for more than 50 years, attachment disorders have been studied systematically only recently. In part because of the ubiquity of attachments in humans, determining when aberrant behavior is best explained as an attachment disorder as opposed to insecure attachment has led to some confusion. In…

The present research explored the relation between socio-cognitive skills, as Theory of Mind and affective empathy, social behaviour, attachment style and scholastic success in children, aged from 8 to 11 years (N = 159; 90 females, 69 males; M[subscript age] = 9,60; DS = 0.78). Several assessment tools were administered to children on mentalizing…

Children who experience early and extensive child care, especially center-based care, are rated by teachers as having more externalizing behavior problems than are other children. This association is reduced, but not eliminated, when care is of high quality, and it varies by socioeconomic disadvantage and the type of behavior assessed. We examine…

This study investigated continuity and stability of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) response measures in mother-infant dyads across 2 different types of social stress sessions. Synchrony of response trajectories across systems (SNS-HPA coordination) and partners (mother-infant attunement) was addressed, as…

The purpose of this study was to examine relations between mother-child attachment and social initiative and withdrawal in Chinese urban children. Participants were 487 school-aged children (247 boys, 240 girls) in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Data on mother-child attachment styles were collected from children's self-reports.…

Concordance between age-6 attachment behaviour and age-8 doll play attachment representations during the school-age period, and associations between these measures and child social adaptation at school were examined. One hundred and twenty-nine 6-year-olds and their mothers participated in a separation/reunion protocol. Two years later, 104…

Students classified as emotionally disturbed receiving special education services will drop out of school at a rate of 56% nationwide, and one out of three will be incarcerated within 3 years of leaving school. This study provides school personnel and clinicians with new information regarding underlying attachment difficulties and aggression in…

Initial progress has been made in the conceptualization and study of attachment stability over time, and substantial evidence has accumulated on the association between attachment classification and biopsychosocial functioning (including social-emotional competence, cognition, physical health and mental health). The literature supports the…

The goal of this study was to examine whether the security of the relationship between mothers and children influenced the relation between maternal emotional expressiveness and aspects of children's social development. Fifty-one preschool children (M age = 52.80 months) and their mothers took part in the study. At their homes, mothers completed…