Despite the wide implications of attachment theory there remains a lack of research exploring interventions which encapsulate the principles of an attachment-based framework in the school context. The aim of this research was to address this gap by implementing an intervention for a group of five primary-aged pupils with identified insecure…

The focus of this article is on children who are "looked after" or adopted. Specifically it explores some of the possible effects of early life traumas and insecure attachments on brain development and subsequent learning in primary school. The article draws on a range of research which helps to outline possible difficulties which these…

Presents a developmental model integrating attachment theory and cognitive developmental approaches in order to further understanding of the processes involved in loss and grief. Considers the relevance of attachment theory to understanding grief and research evidence for the role of continuing attachment bonds after death as a strategy for…

Anxiety about the emotional experience of young children in nursery has been central in thinking about the development of nursery provision. The main theory of emotion that has been applied to nursery practice has been attachment theory. This article proposes that there is a need to open up our conceptual framework for thinking about emotional…

This paper explores important conceptual issues that confront researchers who wish to study the role of empathy in parent-child interaction. Part I reviews the major existing theories of parent empathy offered by the psychoanalytic-object relations and the client-centered schools of thought. In part II, a new processing model derived from the…

Reviews conceptual background on atypical patterns of early attachments, including basic theoretical terms and constructs of attachment theory; the nature and function of the original classification system; notions of "exceptional cases" or "atypical patterns"; and implications of atypicality for both a classification system of attachment behavior…

Considers alternative ways of conceptualizing patterns of attachment, arguing that danger prompts organization of protective strategies in children. Discusses issues of what is normal versus atypical; complex organization versus disorganization; neurological disorders and temperament; assessment of patterns of attachment and analysis of attachment…

This paper explores the literature on attachment disorders in order to discover if the school setting can be an appropriate treatment option for children with mild attachment disorders, and in order to investigate how counselors can implement this treatment option. The introduction discusses the effects of recent changes in family structure on…

Noting that gender may be an important issue when studying relations between attachment and social functioning, four studies explored whether the relationship between children's internal working models of attachment and their general functioning was gender specific. A total of 246 children, ages 5 to 10 years, were given the Separation Anxiety…

This paper synthesizes a variety of perspectives, with an emphasis on attachment theory, on the agency/communion polarity as first defined by David Bakan (1966). The question researchers sought to answer was whether or not agency/communion is best approached as a polarity--opposite and opposing forces, forces in the personality which have often…

The Foster Parent Training Project builds on the desire of foster parents to promote the physical, mental and emotional growth of children in their care. Parents are taught to assist in reducing the impact on the children of separation. Classes deal with emotional development, sexual development, lying, emotional disturbance, the issues at each…

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…

Despite the apparent universality of loneliness and its link to psychosocial maladjustment, research on loneliness has emerged rather recently in the history of psychology. This book brings together varied theories and lines of research on loneliness among children and adolescents to provide a source for future research. The chapters are: (1)…

This document consists of four research reports and one research note focusing on several aspects of the cognitive and emotional development of young children. The first article explores two theories of the relationship between cognition and emotion, reporting on an investigation of that relationship in a simple learning task involving 60 Japanese…

This document consists of the three 2002 issues of a journal reporting new research in early child development conducted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Articles in the Winter 2002 issue highlight some current work at FPG on factors that enhance or inhibit social and…