Attachment & Human Development最新文献

The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) has long been central to attachment research but has rarely been applied to diverse family forms, such as same-sex parent families and families formed through assisted reproductive technologies (ART). This study was the first to use the SSP to compare attachment classifications across same-sex male parent families, same-sex female parent families, and different-sex parent families formed through ART. Data came from the New Parents Study, including 229 parent-child dyads (115 families, including 16 twin families) from the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, with children assessed around 12 months of age. Multinominal regression analyses showed no associaton between family type and attachment classification. However, children from the Netherlands were more likely to be classified as securely attached. These findings suggest that infant-parent attachment secruity does not differ by family type, expanding the understanding of attachment beyond the traditional mother-father paradigm.

Forcibly displaced children often face separation from their parents, particularly fathers. These children endure the hardships of war, displacement, and the loss of a key attachment figure. Despite the critical role of attachment in children's well-being during periods of heightened stress, the impact of separation due to war and displacement has received little attention in empirical work. Findings from 1544 Syrian refugee children (M_age = 10.97, SD = 2.27) living in informal settlements in Lebanon with their mothers (M_age = 38.07, SD = 8.49), including 367 father-separated children, show that father-separated children experienced more war-related events and worse refugee environments. Structural equation modelling showed that beyond the direct relation of war exposure and quality of the refugee environment on well-being, father separation was uniquely related to more depressive symptoms and worse self-development, but not to anxiety, PTSD, or externalising problems in children. Maternal parenting did not explain these outcomes, though it had a protective function for children's well-being.

Parental labour migration is a widespread phenomenon in developing countries across Central and Eastern Europe and may impact the emotional security of Left-Behind Children (LBC) due to prolonged separation from primary attachment figures. In Romania, official data estimate that nearly 58,000 children have parents working abroad. Parental migration has both positive and negative effects on children's development. This review examines the scope of the phenomenon and its psychological impact on Romanian children. A literature search was conducted across Web of Science, PubMed, SAGE, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2007 and 2024. Fourteen studies were included, highlighting psychological effects of parental migration on children's mental health and parent-child relationships. The findings are discussed through the lens of attachment theory. Further research is needed to understand the long-term consequences of such separations. The findings are relevant not only to researchers but also to institutions seeking to develop policies aimed at reducing parental labour migration or mitigating its negative impact on LBC.

As a result of the Department of Homeland Security's zero-tolerance policy (ZTP), over 5,000 children were separated from their parents at the U.S. southern border from 2017-2021, with over 1,000 still lacking confirmed reunifications. Separations also occur daily due to immigration raids, chaotic processing, and changing immigration policies. This article addresses the most fundamental question faced by families enduring such separations; how to mend attachment bonds that have been suddenly severed, especially within a population likely already traumatized. The paper begins by updating readers about separation in the United States and offers a concise summary of the consequences of child-parent separation. The paper then introduces Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) as an intervention for affected families. This paper also uniquely applies CPP to older children and provides three case examples of its use in treating separated families. Finally, the paper offers general suggestions for supporting these families.

When children are placed into foster care, they experience separations from their primary attachment figures. Visitations are often arranged to provide ongoing birth parent-child contact. These visitations are complicated, though, because young children typically show a range of confusing behaviors when reunited. Fostering Relationships is a brief intervention designed to enhance visitation for the child, birth parent, and foster parent. We examined the effectiveness of the Fostering Relationships intervention through single subject analyses. We examined whether birth parents followed their child's lead during visitation sessions significantly more than they did not follow their child's lead. Six of seven birth parents who received the Fostering Relationships intervention followed their child's lead significantly more often than not, whereas only one of four of the control parents did so. Results are preliminary, but suggest that Fostering Relationships may be a promising intervention for enhancing visitation.

This study examined if considerably different caregiving experiences in infancy influence socio-emotional development later in childhood. We included children aged 6-9 years who were, immediately after birth, placed in quality state-run institutions (N = 24) or quality state-run foster care with one family (N = 23). All children have lived in stable families since their adoption before 15 months of age. Children in the comparison group have always lived with their biological parents (N = 25). We found that the previously institutionalized group had significantly more behavioral problems, more dissociative symptoms, and lower empathic behavior scores than the comparison group. The previously fostered group also exhibited more behavioral problems and dissociative symptoms than the comparison group but, notably, significantly fewer behavioral problems than the previously institutionalized group. The findings underscore the beneficial role of foster care compared to institutional care and that quality and consistency of early caregiving play a crucial role in later socio-emotional development.

To better understand perceptions and self-evaluations of sensitive caregiving in Singapore we examined observed (n=301) and self-reported (n=85) maternal behavior, as well as local early educators' (n = 57) opinions concerning ideal maternal behavior, which we then used to create a local MBQS ideal criterion. The association between local educators' MBQS sorting and the standard MBQS ideal criterion was r = 0.67, indicating alignment. Maternal observed and self-reported scores were not significantly associated (MBQS sensitivity criterion: r = -0.13, p = .317; Local criterion: r = -0.10, p = .441). Observed scores (Sensitivity: M = 0.21, Local criterion: M = 0.27) were lower than self-reported scores (Sensitivity: M = 0.62, t(63) = -8.05, p < .001; Local criterion: M = 0.59, t(57) = -7.77, p < .001). The findings reinforce those of past research concerning cross-cultural similarities and limitations in self-reports. Regarding interventional efforts, these point to the need to counter parental resistance to intervention as "unnecessary" with a better understanding of the limits of self-evaluation. Concerning interventional efficacy, the need for observational assessment of change is reinforced.

Infants depend on sensitive caregivers to develop secure attachments, and attachment-based interventions like Minding the Baby® (MTB), aim to support sensitive parenting in families at risk. MTB is an interdisciplinary home visiting intervention starting in the third trimester and continuing until age two. This cluster quasi-randomized trial examined the effects of MTB among 256 pregnant women at risk of adversity. No significant differences were found between MTB and care-as-usual groups on the primary outcome parental sensitivity at 12 or 24 months postpartum. Children in the MTB group exhibited significantly less withdrawal at 12 months (b = -0.17, CI: [-0.33, -0.02], d = -0.43), an effect not sustained at 24 months. For the remaining subscales intrusiveness, limit setting, involvement, compliance, dyadic reciprocity, and dyadic negative states, no significant differences were found between the groups at either time point. However, we observed significant within-group improvements in parental sensitivity and dyadic reciprocity in the MTB group from 12 to 24 months.Trial registration: The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03495895) on April 12th, 2018.