It has come to be generally accepted that the psychopathological effects of psychosocial stress and adversity are diagnostically nonspecific. There is a good deal of supporting evidence in support of this assumption, even though it may be that the nonspecificity has been exaggerated through a failure to take account of comorbidity. This chapter…

Recent studies have highlighted the progressively increasing number of children prescribed psychotropic medication, while findings have illustrated significantly greater usage among child welfare-involved children. These findings have raised serious concerns among mental health and child welfare professionals as well as the general public. To…

This paper reviews the medical (salutogenic) effect of interventions that aim to improve quality of life. Review of studies where the global quality of life in chronically ill patients was improved independently of subjective and objective factors (like physical and mental health, yearly income, education, social network, self-esteem, sexual…

With more than 100 billion neurons that would stretch more than 60,000 miles, a newborn baby's brain is quite phenomenal! These neurons must generally form connections within the first eight months of a baby's life to foster optimal brain growth and lifelong learning. Mommies, daddies, and caregivers are extremely vital to ensuring babies reach…

The authors investigated how student-student friendships, student-teacher relationships, and attachment styles link to General Educational Development program completion among 127 women and 117 men. Students' relationships with students and instructors, as well as secure attachment style were positively associated with earning a GED. After…

Background: Empirical studies demonstrate that maternal sensitivity is associated with attachment security in infancy, while maternal frightening/frightened behavior is related to attachment disorganization. However, attachment disorganization is also predicted by individual dispositions in infancy. Indeed, recent studies indicate a link between…

This study examined the associations between attachment quality and perceived family-of-origin expressive atmosphere (FOEA) in a convenience sample of 279 participants. Multivariate analysis of variance (MAN-OVA) was used to examine the associations between attachment style and FOEA, and hierarchical regression was used to analyze FOEA as a…

Home visiting programs for at-risk mothers and their infants have proliferated nationally in recent years, yet experimental studies of home visiting have yielded mixed findings. One promising strategy for explicating the effects of early home visiting is to examine moderators of program impacts. This study assessed the roles of maternal depression…

The present paper develops and tests two temporal models of the relationships among adolescents' ethnic identity exploration, ethnic identity affirmation and belonging, and attitudes toward their racial/ethnic ingroup and outgroups. Structural equation models for Euro-Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos revealed that all hypothesized…

Elementary and special education teachers and school counsellors currently provide support to children presenting learning disabilities and behavioural problems symptomatic of the more hidden diagnosis of complex trauma resulting from abuse or severe attachment disruption. Specific disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD)…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between students' quality of attachment to their primary caregivers and the frequency with which they bully others and are the victims of bullying. One hundred and five students in Grades 4, 6, and 8 (46 girls, 59 boys; M = 10.5 years) completed paper and pencil surveys. Results indicated…

"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 connections between fathering context (stress, social support, and fathers' internal working models), fathering dimensions, children's attachment to fathers, and children's social-emotional and academic outcomes within two culturally diverse samples in the USA and Taiwan. Participants included 274 fathers and their eight- to…

This study aimed at determining whether paternal parenting behaviours (attachment and positive affection) added significant information on children's psychosocial adjustment beyond that provided by maternal reports. Five hundred and fifty-two children (fourth through sixth graders) from a non-clinical sample completed a brief measure of perceived…

A mixed methods approach was used to examine how young adults (n = 1012) perceive fathers as targets for attachment support. Participants ranked the level of attachment support received and sought from fathers, mothers, best friends, and romantic partners, and provided relationship-specific information on additional indices of social support…