Research spanning the fields of social, developmental, and neuropsychology provides cogent and comprehensive evidence that experiences in the very early years of a child's life serve as a foundation for later academic performance, behavior, personality, and social skills. In recent years, researchers have begun to identify complex inter-relationships between socio-emotional and cognitive development of young children, which provide a foundation for developmental outcomes across multiple domains. For instance, a child's ability to regulate his or her emotions and behavior and be socially competent has been shown to relate to later peer relations, behavioral concerns, academic achievement, and mental health (for review, see Child Trends and Center for Child Health Research, 2004). In addition to factors such as the environment, genetics, and socioeconomic status, many child development researchers have become interested in the effects of the relationship between an infant and his or her mother. In particular, the quality of the bond, or attachment, between the mother and infant has been demonstrated to have profound consequences upon the span of the child's development (Gerhardt, 2004). The purpose of this article is to review what is known about attachment and intervention models to promote positive mother-child relationships and to discuss future directions for the early intervention field. It is important to note that it is not the intention of this article to discount a father's role as caregiver; the focus on the mother only reflects the preponderance of research examining the attachment relationship between the mother and child found in the literature.