This article discusses the history of the idea that "genius is akin to madness" and notes that studies of distinguished individuals suggest that mental instability is incompatible with the prolonged and goal-directed effort required for high achievement. The issue of emotional stability is examined from the perspective of childhood…

Attachment theory is based on Bowlby's work on the connections between maternal loss or deprivation and personality development and on Ainsworth's interest in security theory. Their separate and joint work is reviewed, along with that of other theorists and researchers whose work influenced them or was influenced by them. (LB)

Investigated the role of the mother-daughter relationship in the process of psychological separation in adolescence. Found that maternal empathy was significantly related to psychological separation in the middle-adolescent subjects. The discrepancy between the level of daughters' representations of themselves, and their more primitive…

Explored patterns of emotional communication in 70 mother-infant dyads, emphasizing both mother and child roles in affect regulation. Display of maternal positive and negative affects decreased with age; child affects were unchanged. Maternal sensitivity was associated with maternal matching of son's affects and daughter's creation of shared…

Affective expressions of 11 toddlers with Down's syndrome and 11 toddlers with no disabilities were compared during participation with a parent in a social referencing procedure. Although expressions of both toddler groups were equally labile and intense, only toddlers without Down's syndrome tended to match their parents' expressions. (Author/DB)

Examined the effects of prenatal drug exposure on adopted children's behavior, temperament, health, and school adjustment by comparing the experiences of 3 cohorts of children: (1) 320 drug-exposed children; (2) 456 children who were not drug exposed; and (3) 620 children whose drug exposure was unknown. Two years after placement no significant…

Reconstructs a picture of aggressive behavior in one tribe's prereservation days and relates it to tribal members' current behavior. Presents a Freudian analysis of the roles of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and casual child-rearing practices in the development of aggression, and discusses behavioral manifestations of suppressed aggression. (SV)

Journal writing is recommended to help gifted students understand themselves and be understood by others. Three techniques are described: journal jumpers, which are ideas useful in promoting self-disclosure and self-analysis in journal writing; film reaction writing; and analysis of emotional growth found in the journals of other writers. (JDD)

Discusses the application of emotionally focused marital therapy (EFT) with couples for which one or both of the partners have experienced significant trauma. EFT, in the context of trauma, incorporates the nine steps of conventional EFT and the three stages of the constructivist self-development theory of trauma treatment. (Author/MKA)

Used semiprojective and scenario-based measures to identify evidence for adaptive or maladaptive aspects of guilt and shame in 5- to 12-year olds. Found that shame and projective guilt were related to symptoms as rated by parents, self-blame, and attempts to minimize painful feelings. Scenario-based guilt was related to fewer symptoms in boys but…

Research on parenting shows that the stability of the emotional connections and the predictability of the caretaking relationship are the significant variables that predict positive child adjustment. Offers social policy recommendations that support men in their fathering role without discriminating against women and same-sex couples. (SLD)

Reviews empirical and clinical research on lesbian mothers and their children. Discusses three main family patterns of lesbian households and common misconceptions about them. Research review does not support differences between children of lesbians and children of heterosexuals with regard to their emotional health, interpersonal relationships,…

Examined the differential predictive power and effects of representations of child/mother and child/father attachment for children's representation of self and socioemotional competence. Found that the child's positiveness of self was better predicted by quality of child/mother attachment representation than child/father attachment representation.…

A study investigated whether 73 adults with mental retardation had difficulty understanding emotion-descriptive concepts and whether that difficulty can be attributed to difficulty with abstract concepts. Participants performed better on nonemotion than emotion concepts measures. There were no differences between abstract and nonabstract concepts…

Difficulties with a wide range of social interactions are experienced by children with ADHD. Fifty children and adolescents were tested for ability to recognize the six basic facial expressions of emotion. Results are reported; implications for remediation of social skill deficits commonly seen in children with ADHD are discussed. (Author/EMK)