Conventional systematic reviews offer few insights into for whom and how interventions work. 'Realist reviews' examine such questions via examining 'context-mechanism-outcome configurations' (CMOCs) but are insufficiently rigorous in how evidence is identified, assessed and synthesised. We developed 'realist systematic reviews', addressing similar…

Nurture Groups (NGs) are a school-based intervention for children who missed out on healthy early attachment experiences and who, as a result, present with marked impairments in social, emotional and behavioural functioning upon school entry. Researchers have consistently found that students are significantly more likely to exhibit improvements in…

Nurture groups (NGs) were a provision first conceptualised by Marjorie Boxall in the 1960s. They have since become established in schools to support children who have experienced early attachment difficulties. There is a bank of evidence in support of their benefits to children and some evidence of the positive views of parents and practitioners.…

This cluster-randomized pre-post comparison study examined the effects of using Sesame Workshop's Little Children, Big Challenges: General Resilience (LCBC) digital media toolkit in preschool classrooms over a 12-week period. Participants included 157 preschool teachers and 766 preschool children from 159 preschool classrooms in 38 Head Start…

Characterized by acute changes in attachment relationships, adolescence is a time of balancing autonomy and attachment needs. For adolescents in wilderness therapy programs, the setting often challenges their understanding of their own attachment relationships. The current study evaluates the narratives of 13 adolescents in a wilderness therapy…

In a study of 5285 8th graders from the Gang Resistance and Education Training (G.R.E.A.T.) research, this study applied Travis Hirschi's social bonding theory to examine the curriculum's efficacy in increasing conventional bonding (friends with positive peers, succeeding at education etc.) and decreasing non-conventional bonding (drug…

Outcome studies of mentoring programs have demonstrated that they hold considerable promise in promoting competence across multiple developmental domains. A theoretical model of mentoring identified modification of youths' perceptions of their interpersonal relationships as a contributor to positive outcomes. To date, however, there has not been a…

"Growing a nurturing classroom" is an awareness training programme presented by educational psychologists in Leicestershire for professionals working in primary schools with the aim of promoting an optimal environment for learning and emotional well-being. The training helps primary school staff to take a holistic approach to education;…

This study examined the influence of attachment styles and mentoring experiences on willingness to mentor in the future in a formal mentoring program in China. For both mentors and proteges, avoidance and anxiety dimensions of attachment styles and their interaction had a significant influence on willingness to mentor in the future. Mentoring…

Research Findings: Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschool children, and relationships between families and professionals are an important contributor to school readiness. Furthermore, social-emotional competence is a key component of young children's school readiness. This study…

The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of short-term psychoeducational treatment in children with autism and reactive attachment disorder (RAD). Ten boys with autism aged 24-66 months and 11 children with RAD (nine boys and two girls) aged 30-70 months were included in the study. The Ankara Developmental Screening Inventory…

Uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to evaluate the impact of the bonding and catharsis segment of a measure of intimate relationship skills. Results suggest that the segment can lead to significant improvements in marital adjustment, cohesion, self-esteem, and anxiety levels. Explores differences in changes for males and females.…