Background: Ecological and transactional theories link child outcomes to accumulated risk. This study hypothesized that cumulative risk was negatively related to attachment, and that maternal sensitivity mediated linkages between risk and attachment. Methods: One hundred and twelve high-risk African-American premature infant-mother dyads…

Objective: To examine the relationships between physical and social self-concepts, motivational interviewing (MI), and nutrition assessment skills with dimensions of counseling self-efficacy. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics. Participants: Sixty-five WIC…

This study examined the association between fathers' and mothers' risk factors and paternal engagement 1 and 3 years postbirth. Distinguishing between new and persistent risk factors, we tested whether cumulative risk has unique effects on couples where one or both parents are adolescents at birth. Results indicated that although fathers' and…

How do children learn associations between novel words and complex perceptual displays? Using a visual preference procedure, the authors tested 12- and 19-month-olds to see whether the infants would associate a novel word with a complex 2-part object or with either of that object's parts, both of which were potentially objects in their own right…

Investigates the use of the Bayley Infant Behavior Record (IBR) with premature and full-term infants. Analysis of the two discriminant functions obtained from the discriminant analysis appear to substantiate the claim that the IBR is an index of cognitive test-taking behaviors, which can be used reliably with preterm and full-term infants.…

Coping ability was assessed in 12- and 18-month-old premature and full-term infants. An experimental barrier situation was used that consisted of a double fence of boards and boxes. The infant had to remove the barrier to reach the center. Only four of the 17 children who completed the task were premature. (Author/RH)

Preference for novelty, as measured with an exploratory behavior paradigm, was compared in 8-month-old full-term and preterm infants of matched conceptional age. Subjects were 64 infants, 32 full term and 32 preterm, with 16 males and 16 females in each group. (Author/JH)

Today an ever-increasing number of infants and young children with and without disabilities play, develop, and learn together in a variety of places -- homes, early childhood programs, neighborhoods, and other community-based settings. The notion that young children with disabilities and their families are full members of the community reflects…

Despite knowing the risks to their children's health, parents continue to expose their children to tobacco smoke prior to and after their birth. This study explores the factors influencing parent's behaviour in preventing the exposure of their (unborn) children to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and any changes to their smoking behaviour in the…

When early childhood practitioners are interacting with a mother and her baby, they are focusing, appropriately, on the relationship of the dyad in front of them. However, it is essential to the health and well-being of that family to consider children who may be conceived and born in the future. Research has shown that the well-being of the…

The authors describe a survey of 284 dependency court judges which examined four areas of judicial practice: (a) the extent of the judges' knowledge of infant and toddler development, (b) court capacity to initiate and sustain systems change, (c) the use of judicial authority to initiate systems change, and (d) the barriers judges face in taking…

When addressing infants, many adults adopt a particular type of speech, known as infant-directed speech (IDS). IDS is characterized by exaggerated intonation, as well as reduced speech rate, shorter utterance duration, and grammatical simplification. It is commonly asserted that IDS serves in part to facilitate language learning. Although…

A neural model is developed to explain how humans can approach a goal object on foot while steering around obstacles to avoid collisions in a cluttered environment. The model uses optic flow from a 3-dimensional virtual reality environment to determine the position of objects on the basis of motion discontinuities and computes heading direction,…

Bambini al Centro--literally "Children in the Centre"--is a project operating since 1999 in Rome, financed by the Italian State. It is a recreational-musical space devoted to children aged 0-12 months and their families. The principal goal of the Centre is to provide an opportunity for encounter, relationship, sharing and global growth…

The current work explored the conditions under which infants generalize spatial relationships from one event to another. English-learning 5-month-olds habituated to a tight- or loose-fit covering event dishabituated to a change in fit during a "containment" test event, but infants habituated to a visually similar "occlusion" event did not. Thus,…