Dyadic developmental psychotherapy (DDP) is a mental health intervention intended primarily for children with problematic attachment histories. It has received increased attention in the United Kingdom and the United States in the last few years. DDP has been publicized as a research-supported treatment, but a review of research shows that it does…

Children, Play, and Development, Fourth Edition, discusses the relationship of play to the physical, social, intellectual, and emotional growth of the child. Author Fergus P. Hughes focuses on the historical, sociocultural, and ethological context of play; the role of development in play; and the wide range of theories that provide a framework for…

Discusses implications of a study of middle-class infants seen in the Ainsworth strange situation at 12.5 and 19.5 months; the investigation produced results inconsistent with the corpus of previous findings. (Author/RH)

Asserts (1) that contrary to Waters, findings affirm the importance of viewing mother-infant attachment as a dynamic relationship, responsive to family conditions, and (2) that these findings are consistent with those of other researchers. (Author/RH)

Multiple discriminant function analysis was conducted with data from Strange Situations. Results enable researchers to obtain attachment classifications directly from scores on interactive behavior and crying during reunion episodes. (PCB)

Examines 2,000 Strange Situation classifications obtained in eight different countries. Differences and similarities between distributions in classifications of samples are investigated using correspondence analysis. Substantial intracultural differences are established; data also suggest a pattern of cross-cultural differences. (Author/RWB)

Temperament and attachment, as defined by Bowlby and his followers, are fundamentally different constructs, and research guided by the attachment perspective cannot meaningfully be assimilated to the temperament construct. Qualitative aspects of relationships simply cannot be reduced to individual behavioral dimensions. (RH)

This paper focuses on difficulties and possibilities of theory and research on emotional attachment in humans and problems associated with exclusive reliance on the Strange Situation procedure in cross cultural research. After specifying emotional consequences of qualitatively different attachment histories and appropriate ways of assessing their…

In his article "The 'Effects' of Infant Day Care Reconsidered," Jay Belsky (see PS 017 108) concludes that maternal employment puts infants at risk for developing emotional insecurity and social maladjustment. After a review of Belsky's and other research, a different conclusion is offered in this paper. It is agreed that infants whose…

This paper reviews research on the relationship between infant temperament and maternal caregiving, and discusses conflicting findings. After emphasizing the central importance of independent measures in tests of interactions between temperament and caregiving, the paper reports two studies designed to clarify the relationship. In Study One, 48…

Investigates two questions of interest to persons who treat children with psychological difficulties: (1) What is attachment theory? and (2) Does it have relevance when working with disturbed children and their families? (Author/DB)

Argues that research does not warrant Belsky's position that infant child care for more than 20 hours per week is a risk factor for infants' insecure-avoidant attachment and children's maladaptive social behavior. Suggests that quality of care and family characteristics are major influences. (NH)

This study of 105 12-month olds replicated 4 similar studies that showed that infants in day care are at risk for insecure attachment. Failure to reproduce significant results suggests that the research literature on infant day care and attachment may be biased by the unavailability of "file drawer" studies--unpublished data showing no…

The Community Organization Sense of Community Scale (COSOC) is a frequently used or cited measure of the construct in community psychology and other disciplines, despite a lack of confirmation of its underlying 4-factor framework. Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesized structure of the COSOC, the potential effects of method bias on…

The literature on the infants of narcotic-addicted mothers is reviewed in regard to psychological outcome and those aspects of the medical consequences that contribute to that outcome. (Author/MP)