Developmental scholars, parents, and policymakers alike have long heralded the opening years of life as disproportionately influential. Recent work on adolescence has revealed, however, greater influence of these later years--but without considering how experience during these two periods interact. We address this issue by studying adverse…

The Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, a 45-year study of children born into poverty, offers a number of lessons for practitioners. Among these are the potency of early relationship experiences for predicting developmental outcomes and the fate of early experience following developmental change. This article describes the…

Maternal gatekeeping is characterized by the extent to which mothers engage in behaviors that ultimately serve to inhibit (i.e., gate close) or encourage (i.e., gate open) father involvement in childrearing. This study considered direct and indirect associations between observed and reported maternal gatekeeping and children's social-emotional…

In the present investigation, we studied the development of 6 physically aggressive behaviors in infancy and toddlerhood, posing 3 questions (a) How do the prevalences of individual physically aggressive behaviors change from 8, 15, and 24 months? (b) Are there groups of children who show distinctive patterns in the way individual physically…

Little research has been conducted on whether deficits in developmental functioning affect the range of core symptoms for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study represents a first attempt to determine whether developmental level has an effect on the expression of ASD symptoms in infants and toddlers. Eight hundred and fifty-three infants were…

Sleep behavior disorders do not only affect infants' well-being, they also challenge the parents' physical and emotional resources, promote risks for the growing parent-infant relationships, and burden the parents' co-parenting relationship. Sleep-onset and night waking problems are widely spread among otherwise healthy infants, and they tend to…

Associations between maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress and infant social-emotional adjustment were examined in a subset of dyads from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 376). Mothers reported on infant temperament at 1 and 6 months postpartum, and maternal sensitivity to distress and nondistress were observed at 6…

This literature review focuses on factors found to be associated with individual differences in infant night waking. Infant night waking that requires parent intervention to assist the infant to return to sleep is of special concern to parents because of the sleep deprivation and fragmentation that they experience. Both intrinsic and extrinsic…

Describes infant and toddler biting behavior as related to developmental differences in exploring the environment, learning cause-effect relationships, and using power to elicit a response. Discusses ways to deal with biting at each level, how to support parents dealing with the behavior at home, and the importance of taking biting related to…

The newsletter issue offers parents suggestions for managing the special child's behavior during infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. For each stage, typical behavior is described and suggestions are phrased as "do's and don'ts." Guidance for dealing with problems includes having a professional evaluation of…

Developed through 20 years of family therapy practice advocating a child-centered approach to parenting, this book presents a balanced approach to child rearing that recognizes the feelings and needs of both parents and children while observing that children also need boundaries and discipline to feel safe and secure, guidance on the choices they…

Explores some typical early-childhood behaviors, such as tantrums, hitting, and sharing, and how they can be dealt with effectively. (HTH)

Early detection of developmental and behavioral/mental health problems is greatly facilitated when quality instruments are deployed. This article describes how to identify accurate measures and presents standards for screening tests. Included is a table delineating accurate tools for primary care: typically those relying on information from…

The four stages of separation individuation--symbosis, differentiation, practice, and rapprochement--are examined and the early stages of childhood development are discussed in relation to the education of developmentally disabled children. (PHR)

A family counselor and mother of adopted children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Effects (FAS/E) offers practical advice and information on dealing with FAS/E's lifelong effects on behavior and learning. The book begins by discussing the historical, medical, and social aspects of FAS/E, and details common behavioral characteristics associated with…