This study assesses the extent of phonetic continuity between babble and words in four Italian children followed longitudinally from 0;9 or 0;10 to 2;0--two with relatively rapid and two with slower lexical growth. Prelinguistic phonetic characteristics, including both (a) consistent use of specific consonants and (b) age of onset and extent of…

Learning must be constrained for it to lead to productive generalizations. Although biology is undoubtedly an important source of constraints, prior experience may be another, leading learners to represent input in ways that are more conducive to some generalizations than others, and/or to up- and down-weight features when entertaining…

Primary attachment relationships have an enormous influence on later cognitive development, socio-emotional development and psychological health. Up to date, no research explored the correlations between the quality of the child-caregiver attachment relationship (AQ), self-evaluation (SE), and cognitive development (CD) of five-year-old pre-school…

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of literature on internationally adopted children in the U.S. that provides context, references for normal development, and describes traumatic stress with children. This gives counselors and other professionals who work with young children and families of international adoption a conceptual…

Although Early Head Start (EHS) is a federal-to-local program, there are opportunities for collaboration at the state level that have expanded in recent years. State leaders can seize opportunities to break down silos and create collaborative state systems and programs to better meet the needs of vulnerable young children in their states. This…

The Infant Parent Training Institute (IPTI) at Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Boston offers integrated clinical and theoretical infant mental health training. The curriculum reflects the belief that nurturing and reflective relationships promote optimal learning and growth. A specialty in infant mental health requires knowledge…

This study describes predictors of secondary traumatic stress and burnout in a national sample of helping professionals, with a specific focus on the unique responses of child welfare (CW) workers. Specific worker and exposure characteristics are examined as possible predictors of these forms of occupational distress in a sample of 669…

The goals of the current study were to investigate the stability of temperamental exuberance across infancy and toddlerhood and to examine the associations between exuberance and social-emotional outcomes in early childhood. The sample consisted of 291 4-month-olds followed at 9, 24, and 36 months and again at 5 years of age. Behavioral measures…

We investigated Early Head Start home visitors' use of evidence-based practices and the effectiveness of a web-based system to support these practices. Home visitors learned to use 3 evidence-based practices: (a) frequent assessment of children's early communication for screening and progress monitoring, (b) 2 home-based language promoting…

Although emerging evidence suggests that parental behavior is related to the development of child executive functioning (EF), the mechanisms through which parenting affects child EF have yet to be investigated. The goal of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of child language in the prospective relation between maternal autonomy…

The present study explores actor and partner effects on mothers' and fathers' cognitive stimulation within an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). This model allows us to evaluate whether mothers' and fathers' practices are impacted not only by their own experiences but also by their partners' experiences. The APIM treats the couple as the…

Current trends and issues surrounding birth screening, early intervention services, and deaf children's varying access to language and literacy demonstrate a critical need to improve one's understanding of how to involve families as partners in their children's education. In the past decade, increasing numbers of deaf children have been identified…

The purpose of this study was to investigate musical parenting of infants and toddlers in Brazil. Forty-three Brazilian mothers were interviewed on musical experience and preferences, beliefs and uses of music with their children. Results suggest that mothers appear to be caught between two main forces: the natural human urge to interact,…

The effectiveness of three types of in-service training designed to improve early intervention practitioners' abilities to use family-systems intervention practices was evaluated in the study of 473 participants. Participants attended either conference presentations or one of two types of workshops (half day/full day or multi-day), or received one…

"Child Care Health Connections" is a bimonthly newsletter published by the California Childcare Health Program (CCHP), a community-based program of the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, Department of Family Health Care Nursing. The goals of the newsletter are to promote and support a healthy and safe environment…