Infants have definite personality characteristics from birth onward. Despite wide variation in infant temperament styles, ranging from easy to difficult, responsive parents and non-parental caregivers can ensure positive emotional-social development. This paper, which reviews various theories and research on personality development in infants and…

Attachment theory posits that intimate relationships (especially during early childhood) have an influence on future social functioning. Children construct an "internal working model" of a relationship which is influenced by the nature and quality of primary attachment relationships. This model then serves as a foundation for future…

This paper reports the results of a study on the quality of attachment in two groups of interracially adopted infants in the Netherlands, and compares these results with results from a similar study of American interracial adoption. The two groups in the Netherlands consisted of 30 adoptive Asian children placed in White families, and 20 Asian and…

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module explores the attachment process and the long-term effects of attachment difficulties in the first years of a child's life. The module's learning objectives address: (1) ways of identifying the basic concepts…

A prospective, longitudinal investigation was made of psychological aspects of pregnancy, birth, and the first year postpartum. The majority of participants were Caucasian (90 percent) and Chinese-Canadian (5 percent) men and women and their infant children. Adult participants completed a series of psychological and attitude measures selected to…

The literature review examines the relationship of neurological impairment in young children with their social and emotional development. It identifies disorders of interaction and/or attachment and disorders of independence/dependence as specific maladaptive social and emotional states associated with neurological impairment. Three theoretical…

Collected in this working paper are summary descriptions of 17 innovative community action programs designed to prevent child abuse. These programs were developed by individuals, community groups, hospitals, and/or state chapters of the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, as well as by other groups and organizations. Located in…

Love and romance continue to be important issues within every age group, not merely among the usually studied college students. Two issues, the nature or intensity of the love experienced and the motives or purposes of love were examined for different age groups. The ways in which the pursuit of heterosexual love may change throughout adult life…

The process by which parents become attached to their infants was the focus of a roundtable discussion. Participating were students of the attachment process in various animal species, as well as clinicians and researchers, from various disciplines, engaged in studying the development of attachment in parents of normal infants, parents of…

Literature on parent-toddler affiliative behavior which reflects the dynamic and reciprocal nature of parent-toddler interaction is reviewed in this paper, including an ecosystems perspective. Affiliative behaviors for parents and toddlers are defined with respect to the verbal and physical behaviors of both parent and toddler. Also, research…

Five issues of the bulletin "Zero To Three" are collected here. The first issue features a discussion by T. Berry Brazelton of assessment as a method for enhancing infant development. The second excerpts materials from Stanley I. Greenspan's book "Psychopathology and Adaptation in Infancy and Early Childhood." The excerpt…

Information provided in five major dimensions of the field of normal child development can be useful in increasing the understanding and effectiveness of those who work with preschool children with special needs. The especially relevant dimensions of the child development field are : (1) child development theories, including the theories of…

This paper presents a methodology for using the Benjamin Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) model in individual, couple and family therapy to describe relations among self-concept, early history and adult relationships. The SASB model of two-person social interactions defines behavioral opposites, complements, antidotes and…

Research conducted in the United States and Canada on the effects of group care outside of family settings for 20 or more hours per week on a regular basis shows few differences between day care and home reared children on four major variables: attachment, social interactions, cognitive development, and physical health. Of nine studies of…

Members of cross-generational networks, which are primarily among kin, are likely to share basic values or to avoid issues that might cause conflict. Mother-daughter bonds are both the strongest through life and the most complex, linking household units into modified extended family networks. Critical conceptual methodological problems abound.…