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Perspectives on helping traumatized infants, young children, and their familiesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Traumatized infants, toddlers, and young children can affect adults in different ways but most often pull extreme reactions ranging from empathy to anger. It is important for those who support, intervene, and provide therapeutic services for traumatized young children and their families to understand that various traumatization, compassion, fatigue, and burnout can be an integral part of the work. All interveners, including child welfare workers, clinicians, home visitors, teachers, and even nontraditional responders, such as those who supervise therapeutic visitation, must find their own ways to cope with the overwhelming...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Joy D. Osofsky Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Facilitating reflective supervision in an early child development centerEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Reflective supervision (RS) has not been a tradition in most early child development settings. The infant mental health consultant, in successfully implementing RS, helps to articulate and affirm some basic values necessary for a community of reflective practice. These emphasize (a) participating in an environment of continuous learning and improvement and (b) engaging in an ongoing commitment to professionalism. Sets of dimensions of RS, therefore, include sharing and learning, emotional support and dealing with vulnerability, and systems sensitivity. Issues for RS training involve using yourself as a tool and learning ab...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Robert Newcomb Emde Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Strengthening and recognizing knowledge, skills, and reflective practice: The Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health competency guidelines and endorsement processEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article discusses those challenges in summarizing the development of a comprehensive set of competency guidelines and an accessible, effective procedure for professional endorsement in the infant and family field (D. Weatherston, B.D. Moss, & D. Harris, 2006). Criteria for endorsement encourage professionals from many disciplines to integrate new knowledge about infancy and early childhood mental health with strategies that are culturally sensitive and skillful. Emphasis on reflective supervision or consultation encourages a framework for best practice promoting professional growth (L. Eggbeer, T.L. Mann, & N. Seibel,...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Deborah J. Weatherston, Melissa Kaplan-Estrin, Sheryl Goldberg Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Observe, listen, wonder, and respond: A preliminary exploration of reflective function skills in early care providersEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Parents' behaviors demonstrating reflective capacity towards their children, parental reflective functioning, have been identified as central to both the formation of a secure attachment and therapeutic efforts to remediate attachment problems (Fonagy & Target, 2005; Sadler, Slade, & Mayes, 2006). We hypothesize that reflective skills in providers may be key elements in effecting change through the parent-professional relationship. As a first step, the present study examined early care and intervention providers' self-report of the importance of reflective practice skills in their work with families of young children. We f...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Angela M. Tomlin, Lynne Sturm, Steven M. Koch Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Developing reflective skills in infant mental health postgraduate students: The Australian experienceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article considers the various ways that the notion of reflective practice and reflective supervision is used in different disciplines and defines our understanding of its place in IMH training. The program content and delivery emphasize the development of reflective skills in students in a number of ways. These include a supportive relationship-based approach to training; a 12-month infant observation which provides students with the opportunity to understand early development, develop observational skills about infants and families as well as their own responses to the infant and family; ongoing clinical supervision ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Beulah Warren, Sarah Mares Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Embracing complexity across disciplines: Reflective supervision and postdegree training integrate mental health concepts with speech-language therapy and graduate educationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article illustrates how relationship-based practice and reflective supervision can augment the practice of professionals in allied health disciplines in the earliest childhood fields. The authors describe how mental health constructs were integrated into the discipline-specific expertise of one speech-language pathologist and how, in turn, that affected her leadership as graduate program director. The article highlights the transformations that took place within one discipline through the assimilation of a transdisciplinary, relationship-based, and reflective model. The ongoing individual and group supervision of a sp...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Rebecca Shahmoon-Shanok, Elaine Geller Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Reflective practice in infant mental health training and consultationEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article describes models of training in infant mental health that utilize reflective supervision as a fundamental component of the educational and clinical experiences. The design and structure of these programs, offered by two medical centers, are described. Benefits and challenges to the adoption of infant mental health practice by trainees are outlined. Incorporation of reflective supervision in the training is discussed, and clinical examples are provided to illustrate its essential role in the development of the infant mental health clinician. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Julie A. Larrieu, Amy B. Dickson Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Working within the context of relationships: Multidisciplinary, relational, and reflective practice, training, and supervisionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
No Abstract. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 3, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Deborah J. Weatherston, Joy D. Osofsky Tags: Introduction Source Type: journals

Transitions: Reflections on the Infant Mental Health Journal, Joy D. Osofsky, and the futureEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
No Abstract. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Hiram E. Fitzgerald Tags: Editorial Source Type: journals

What are infants learning about race? A look at a sample of infants from multiple racial groupsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Little empirical knowledge exists about the importance of culture and the sociopolitical context of race's influence on the social development of infants and young children. In this article, we review current research on the transmission of race and culture to the developing child. Utilizing a historical theoretical framework proposed by Margaret Mahler and colleagues' (1975) theory of infant's development of a separate self, we will examine the potential influence of racial context on children's development. Observational videotaped research methods will be used to describe several young children ages 6 months to 36 month...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Wanjiku Njoroge, Tami Benton, Marva L. Lewis, Njoroge M. Njoroge Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Predictors of coparenting in Mexican American families and links to parenting and child social emotional developmentEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The present study examined associations between parents' levels of acculturation depressive symptoms, family support, and couple relationship quality with coparenting conflict. We also explored the effects of coparenting conflict on parenting and infant social development in a sample of low-income Mexican American (n = 735) infants (age 9 months) and their parents. Results indicated that couple conflict was the strongest predictor of coparenting conflict. Coparenting conflict had a significant effect on mother--infant interaction and father engagement. The effects of coparenting on father caregiving varied by father's leve...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Natasha J. Cabrera, Jacqueline D. Shannon, Jaslean J. La Taillade Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Respectful relationships: Socialization goals and practices among Mexican mothersEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article examines the socialization goals, representations, and practices in toddler- and preschool-age children and their Mexican immigrant or U.S.-born, Mexican-heritage mothers. Eighty-eight mothers and children (49% girls) participated in this research. All mothers were visited in their homes to be observed and interviewed when the children were 8, 14, 24, and 36 months old. The study used naturalistic observations of children's behavior and participation in everyday routines and their mothers' socialization practices. Prekindergarten teachers reported on the children's school social skills. It was expected that di...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Eleanor Zucker, Carollee Howes Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Young African American mothers' changing perceptions of their infants during the transition to parenthoodEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examines one aspect of change during the transition to parenthood: the mother's emerging perception of her infant. During pregnancy and at 4 months' postpartum, 220 urban African American mothers between the ages of 13 and 21 years were asked to describe their infants. Content analysis of their responses and ratings of the affective tone of the responses suggest that there are changes from pregnancy to 4 months after the birth that parallel shifts noted in literature on women going through the transition to motherhood as adults. Between pregnancy and 4 months, there was a decreasing focus on infant health and ph...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Cynthia O. Lashley, Sydney L. Hans, Linda G. Henson Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Effects of parental supportiveness on toddlers' emotion regulation over the first three years of life in a low-income African American sampleEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The purpose of this study was to examine how parental supportiveness and child gender are related to toddlers' emotion regulation over time among low-income African American mothers and their children (n = 803). Data for the current study were collected as part of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Using latent growth curve modeling, results indicated that parental supportiveness predicted toddlers' emotion regulation skills, on average (intercepts), and rates of growth of parental supportiveness predicted the rates of growth in emotion regulation over time (slope), beyond the effects of initial parental...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Erika London Bocknek, Holly E. Brophy-Herb, Meeta Banerjee Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Child temperament in three U.S. cultural groupsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Temperament among children (N = 111 20-month-olds) from three cultural backgrounds in the United States (Latin American, Japanese American, and European American) was investigated. In accord with a biobehavioral universalist perspective on the expression of early temperament, few significant group differences in child temperament were found, regardless of cultural background; however, factors associated with maternal reports of child temperament differed by cultural group. The findings provide insight into the nature of child temperament generally and temperament of children in immigrant families specifically as well as pa...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Marc H. Bornstein, Linda R. Cote Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Development of infants and toddlers in ethnoracial familiesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
No Abstract. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - August 31, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Tammy Mann, Natasha Cabrera, Michelle Sarche, Desiree Qin Tags: Introduction Source Type: journals

Attachment in substance-exposed toddlers: The role of caregiving and exposureEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Prenatal substance exposure is linked to adverse outcomes in children. Some adverse outcomes may result from insecure attachment and low-quality caregiving rather than from substance exposure. Little is known about the caregiving of polysubstance-using mothers. To address this, low-income mothers (n = 41) with their substance-exposed 12-month-olds were compared with a nonexposed group case-matched for other risk factors. Maternal sensitivity and involvement were analyzed from 2 hr of videotaped interaction. Attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q-Set. Attachment security and quality of caregiving were quite low for ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Christi Bergin, Patricia McCollough Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Caregiving behavior and interactions of prenatally depressed mothers (antidepressant-treated and non-antidepressant-treated) during newborn acute painEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study contributes preliminary new findings that warrant prospective and longitudinal studies to clarify further the impacts of prenatal SRI and maternal mental mood (e.g., chronic depression and anxiety) effects on the mother-infant interaction and infant pain and stress reactivity. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Fay F. Warnock, Roger Bakeman, Kim Shearer, Shaila Misri, Tim Oberlander Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

The predictive value of different infant attachment measures for socioemotional development at age 5 yearsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The predictive value of different infant attachment measures was examined in a community-based sample of 111 healthy children (59 boys, 52 girls). Two procedures to assess infant attachment, the Attachment Q-Set (applied on a relatively short observation period) and a shortened version of the Strange Situation Procedure (SSSP), were applied to the children at age 15 months and related to a comprehensive set of indicators of the children's socioemotional development at age 5 years. Three attachment measures were used as predictors: AQS security, SSSP security, and SSSP attachment disorganization. AQS security and SSSP secur...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Sanny Smeekens, J. Marianne Riksen-Walraven, Hedwig J.A. Van Bakel Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Young infants' triangular communication with their parents in the context of maternal postpartum psychosis: Four case studiesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
With increasing data on the dynamics of normative couples as they transition to parenthood and become a triad, the need for greater understanding of the impact of parental psychopathology on this transition has become clear. The goal of the current article is to begin exploring this area that has received little attention to date, by describing case examples from a study of clinical families as they transitioned to parenthood. Four representative cases were selected from a pool of 13 mother-father-baby triads, for whom the mother had been hospitalized conjointly with her infant due to a psychotic episode during the postpar...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Diane Philipp, Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge, Antoinette Corboz-Warnery, Nicolas Favez Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Maternal correlates of 2-year-old American Indian children's social-emotional development in a Northern Plains tribeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study is the first to explore these relationships in a Northern Plains American Indian sample of young children and their mothers. Results suggest possible points of intervention for improving the developmental outcomes of very young American Indian children. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - June 30, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Michelle C. Sarche, Calvin D. Croy, Cecelia Big Crow, Christina M. Mitchell, Paul Spicer Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Mother-infant psychotherapy: Examining the therapeutic process of changeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Treatments that involve the mother-infant dyad have shown great potential for mitigating the deleterious effects of maternal mental health problems for the mother, infant, and the mother-infant relationship. The present study utilizes focus-group data from clinicians providing mother-infant psychotherapy in the Early Connections program, a home-based mother-infant psychotherapy for the treatment of postpartum mood disorders. Findings highlight aspects of the process in mother-infant psychotherapy that contribute to change and positive relational development in the mother-infant dyad as well as in the therapeutic alliance. ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Ruth Paris, Eda Spielman, Rendelle E. Bolton Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Video interaction guidance inviting transcendence of postpartum depressed mothers' self-centered state and holding behaviorEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
By sometimes evoking self-absorbed and avoidance behaviors in new mothers, postnatal depression affects the quality of mother-infant interaction, which in turn may invoke distress and avoidance in the infant and cause even more lasting impairment in the child's development. Three depressed mothers, A, B, and C, are reported upon after having been offered counseling in accordance with the Marte Meo approach through jointly watching with the therapist video replays of themselves interacting with their newborns. Clinical vignettes are offered which indicate how empathic and positive support of a sensitive therapist can be hel...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Kari Vik, Stein Braten Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Satellite babies in transnational families: A study of parents' decision to separate from their infantsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examines a practice which is characteristic of an era of intensifying globalization: As part of a transnational lifestyle, an increasing number of immigrants to North America send infants thousands of miles back to their country of origin to be raised by members of their extended families - a culturally sanctioned tradition. After several years of separation, the children return to the biological parents to attend school in the adopted country, a custom which, according to Western mental health models, could have significant sequelae for attachment relationships and other facets of development. This practice is ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Yvonne Bohr, Connie Tse Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Triadic nonverbal communication in mother-infant consultations: Two contrasted casesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The aim of the present case study was to present and discuss the analysis of triadic nonverbal communication between mother, infant, and therapist in two early consultations as an indicator of the therapeutic alliance. The analysis explored nonverbal triadic interactions (body positions and facial orientations of the mother, infant, and therapist, and expressive behaviors of the infant) and triadic affective sharing (via a microanalytic interview of the therapist). The quality of the therapeutic alliance and clinical outcome for each case are described. The description of the two cases illustrates the importance of the pro...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: M.J. Hervé, H. Grandjean, J.P. Visier, M. Maury Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Learning to sleep through the night: Solution or strain for mothers and young children?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Is the process of helping infants and young children learn to sleep through the night a solution to family sleep problems or does it exacerbate matters for mother and child? Retrospective and current accounts from a nonclinical, convenience sample of 102 mothers of preschool-aged children provided information on sleep issues from early infancy through preschool age. Child, mother, and parenting characteristics, along with family sleep arrangements, were differentially related to the age at which children learned to sleep through the night and to the extent of difficulty that characterized this experience. Mothers who indic...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 11, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Gary R. Germo, Wendy A. Goldberg, Meret A. Keller Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Early emotional development in infants and toddlers: Perspectives of Early Head Start staff and parentsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
As part of a curriculum-development project, focus groups were implemented with Early Head Start staff and with parents of infants and toddlers enrolled in Early Head Start. Focus groups were designed to identify staff and parent beliefs about early emotional development. Three major themes were identified that crossed the staff and parent focus groups: (a) Infants' and toddlers' abilities to have emotions and to be aware of others' emotions; (b) roles of parents as advocates, teachers, and disciplinarians; and (c) parental reflectivity about their own experiences as influences on their parenting. The findings suggest that...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - May 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Holly E. Brophy-Herb, Mildred Horodynski, Sara B. Dupuis, Erika London Bocknek, Rachel Schiffman, Esther Onaga, Laurie A. Van Egeren, Hiram E. Fitzgerald, Mary Cunningham-Deluca, Shelley Hawver, Madonna Adkins, Sarah Thomas Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Competencies for infant mental health therapists: A survey of expert opinionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We report on data provided by a nationwide panel of 23 infant mental health (IMH) experts who provided numerical ratings of the relative importance of 143 competencies desirable for licensed mental health therapists working with infants/children birth to 5 years of age and their families/caregivers. The competencies were developed based on prior state and national efforts and our own experience in training IMH therapists. The competencies were grouped conceptually into seven areas: (a) Normal infant and toddler development; (b) Atypical development (perturbations in development); (c) Emotional/behavioral disorders in infan...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - March 18, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Herbert C. Quay, Anne E. Hogan, Keith F. Donohue Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

The intergenerational effects of trauma from terror: A real possibilityEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The goals of this article are to discuss the potential risk of children whose parents were traumatized by terror, to present literature on parenting in the context of terror, and to consider factors that may mediate the transmission of trauma-effects from parents to children. Mediators considered are parents' traumatic distress, disturbed parent-child interactions, trauma-related disturbances in parents' thinking, and effects of stress on children's neural functioning. Also discussed are genetic and environmental factors that may moderate the transmission of intergenerational effects and promote children's risk and resilie...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - March 18, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Marsha Kaitz, Mindy Levy, Richard Ebstein, Stephen V. Faraone, David Mankuta Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Shared minds: Effects of a mother's imitation of her child on the mother-child interactionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have impaired social interaction right from early development. Previous studies (Dawson & Adams, 1984; Tiegerman & Primavera, 1981, 1984) have suggested that imitating children with ASD is effective in facilitating their social behaviors. The present case report, through a 6-month intervention, investigated how a home-based intervention of helping a mother imitate her 21-month-old child with ASD impacted the child's development of social communication outside the experimental settings. Our results show that the mother's imitation of her child might be associated with the deve...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - March 18, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Wakako Sanefuji, Hiroshi Yamashita, Hidehiro Ohgami Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Caregivers' disrupted representations of the unborn child predict later infant-caregiver disorganized attachment and disrupted interactionsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Infant disorganized attachment is a significant predictor for later psychopathology. The Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, & M.L. Barton, 1986) elicits and classifies caregivers' perceptions and subjective experience of their child and relationship with the child, which are related to concurrent and future attachment to the caregiver. However, when the WMCI was first developed, the disorganized attachment classification had not been fully developed, so the original WMCI did not include a classification that is linked to disorganized attachment. We adapted the WMCI coding scheme to include ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - March 18, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Allison Crawford, Diane Benoit Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Promoting infant well-being in the context of maternal depression by supporting the fatherEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Maternal depression is recognized as posing a significant risk to the healthy development of infants. Guided by attachment theory, interventions have focused on the distressed mother's relationship with her infant. While interventions which include fathers are reported in the literature, the processes involved in the fathers' support of a distressed mother and in his interactions with his infant in the context of maternal depression remain unexplored. In the case study described here, home-visiting support was directed to the father in a couple in which the mother had been treated for depression after the birth. The observ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 13, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Richard Fletcher Tags: Brief Report Source Type: journals

Neonatal physiological regulation is associated with perinatal factors: A study of neonates born to healthy African American women living in povertyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, we focus on healthy African American women from low-income environments to investigate the earliest individual differences in biobehavioral regulation, including resting heart rate and variability (HRV). In 87 neonates, HRV was significantly lower in those born to mothers reporting past major depressive disorder (p = .01). The number of maternal life stressors also was associated with lower neonatal HRV (p = .03). Obstetrical complications were not associated with significant differences, but breast- versus bottle-feeding in the first few days of life was related to higher HRV (p = .04). Early variation in p...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 13, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Suma Jacob, Michelle Byrne, Kate Keenan Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Infant irritability: The impact of fetal alcohol exposure, maternal depressive symptoms, and low emotional support from the husbandEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Conclusion: Direct effects of fetal alcohol exposure, maternal depressive symptoms, and low emotional support from the husband on infant irritability as well as an interaction between fetal alcohol exposure and maternal depressive symptoms were revealed. The interaction can be understood in terms of a diathesis-stress model. However, no longitudinal associations between maternal depressive symptoms and infant irritability could be found. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 13, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Sakari Lemola, Werner Stadlmayr, Alexander Grob Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Mental health in infants with esophageal atresiaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Chronic somatic illness in infancy may challenge the development of mental health and impinge the infant's capability to form close interpersonal relationships. Esophageal atresia (EA) is a congenital anomaly requiring neonatal surgery, medical aftertreatment, and extended hospitalization. The aim of the study was to assess mental health and to find prognostic factors for mental health among infants with EA. Thirty-nine infants treated consecutively during 2000 to 2003 and their mothers were included. Infant mental health was assessed by Diagnostic Classification: 0-3 (Zero to Three, 1994). Medical and environmental data w...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 13, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Anne Faugli, Ragnhild Emblem, Kristin Bjørnland, Trond H. Diseth Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Termination as a therapeutic intervention when treating children who have experienced multiple lossesEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article outlines one approach to utilizing termination as an integral component of the therapeutic process with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their caregivers. Using a psychodynamic model and working dyadically with the child and the caregiver, termination is approached as a primary intervention, pivotal to the successful treatment of this vulnerable population. (Source: Infant Mental Health Journal)
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 13, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Michele M. Many Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Young children's responses to September 11th: The New York City experienceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study aims to provide extensive descriptions of how children 5 years or younger on September 11th who were living in close proximity to Ground Zero responded that day and in the following months. Sixty-seven New York City parents (with 104 children) participated in focus groups between November 2001 and May 2002. Focus groups also provided a foundation for an in-depth study examining young children's adaptation following 9/11 and changes in parenting behaviors after the disaster. Findings on children's behavioral and emotional reactions on 9/11 and in the 8 months after as well as their need to return to normalcy are ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - January 1, 2009 Category: Child Development Authors: Tovah P. Klein, Ellen R. Devoe, Claudia Miranda-Julian, Keri Linas Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Influences of maternal postpartum depression on fathers and on father-infant interactionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined the influence of maternal PPD on fathers and identified maternal and paternal factors associated with father-infant interaction in families with depressed as compared with nondepressed mothers. A convenience sample of 128 mother-father-infant triads, approximately half of which included women with significant symptoms of PPD at screening, were recruited from a screening sample of 790 postpartum women. Mothers and fathers completed measures of depression, marital satisfaction, and parenting stress at 2 to 3 months' postpartum and were each videotaped interacting with their infants. Results indicate that ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 20, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Janice H. Goodman Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Attachment in foster children associated with caregivers' sensitivity and behavioral problemsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study focused on attachment of foster children by examining factors associated with attachment relationships of children raised from birth by the same parents. The sample included 61 children between 26 to 88 months of age and their foster caregivers. Attachment security and caregiver sensitivity were coded on the basis of, respectively, a home-observation (Attachment Q-Set) and a laboratory procedure (Three boxes). Other measures included caregiver reports of child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and symptoms of attachment disorder, including inhibited and disinhibited attachment as well as secure b...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 20, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Mirjam Oosterman, Carlo Schuengel Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Predicting developmental deficiencies at the age of four based on data from the first seven months of lifeEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The study examines very young children with the aim of identifying precursors of developmental problems during the first 7 months of age. Information from screening and observations in the birth clinic, in the first level of health care, and from parents was collected on five different occasions. The information that was included concerning the child and family was defined as either optimal or nonoptimal. At the age of 4 years, a clinical group was identified (11.1% of the total population). Logistic regression analyses were performed to detect risk factors. Twenty-one precursors were used to create a screening questionnai...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 20, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Anne Margrethe Rostad, Per Nyberg, Bengt Sivberg Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Neurodevelopmental impairment: Predictors of its impact on the families of extremely low birth weight infants at 18 monthsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study determined IOF scores for families of ELBW infants with increasing degree of impairment at 18 months and identified factors that increase vulnerability to impact. A total of 3,849 ELBW infant survivors born at the 16 centers of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network between January 1993 and February 2001 were assessed at 18 to 22 months. Infants were divided into four groups by degree of impairment. IOF scores were analyzed by impairment group. Multivariate analyses assessed effects of impairment, social/demographic factors, unmet service needs, and resource utiliz...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 20, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Bonnie E. Stephens, Carla M. Bann, W. Kenneth Poole, Betty R. Vohr Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Parents' attachment styles, mental representations, and institutionalization of children in BulgariaEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We first summarize the history, extent, and characteristics of institutionalization of non-orphan children in Bulgaria. Then we describe a study of certain psychological characteristics of mothers who use institutionalization compared with mothers similar in ethnicity and close-to-poverty circumstances, those using state daycare programs, and those using weekly care programs for their children. Institutionalizing mothers had been institutionalized themselves far more often than had the other mothers. On two attachment measures, as expected, institutionalizing mothers were less secure and more insecure than daycare mothers,...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 20, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Galina Markova, Robert Shilkret, Liubomir Djalev Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Posttraumatic stress symptoms following childbirth and mothers' perceptions of their infantsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article explores whether PTSD symptoms relating to labor and delivery are associated with mothers' early perceptions of their infant. Using labor and childbirth as the stressor criterion, 211 women were assessed at 6 weeks' postpartum for symptoms of intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Their perceptions of their infants, of mother-to-infant attachment, and infant behavioral characteristics also were evaluated. In sum, 3.8% of the women fulfilled full diagnostic criteria, and a further 21.3% reported clinically significant symptoms on at least one dimension of PTSD. Those meeting full or partial criteria perceived...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - November 1, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: John Davies, Pauline Slade, Ingram Wright, Peter Stewart Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

A mother-infant therapy group model for postpartum depressionEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This pilot study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a manualized, 12-week mother-infant therapy group (M-ITG) model for women with moderate to severe depressive symptoms during the postpartum period. Study participants were referred to the psychiatric clinic of a university medical center for assessment and treatment for postpartum depression. Results of pre- and post comparisons utilizing self-report and observational measures showed that women in the M-ITG groups (n = 18) reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms and experienced their infants as more reinforcing following 12 weeks of treatment than did the d...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 24, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Roseanne Clark, Audrey Tluczek, Roger Brown Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Treatment of postpartum depression in mothers: Secondary benefits to the infantsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined the quality of mother-infant interaction and levels of perceived stress and parenting efficacy in association with mothers' levels of depression among mothers with significant depressive symptoms during the postpartum period, who were followed prospectively during treatment, and their infants less than 6 months old. Mothers with postpartum depression (n = 19) were treated with medication, and the mothers were observed with their infants prior to treatment and 3 and 6 months later. A comparison group of nondepressed mothers (n = 25) was included to control for the normal developmental changes associated ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 24, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Sherryl H. Goodman, Michelle R. Broth, Christine M. Hall, Zachary N. Stowe Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Effects of maternal depression and panic disorder on mother-infant interactive behavior in the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigmEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The present study evaluated the interactive behavior of three groups of mothers and their 3-month-old infants in the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm. The mothers had either a clinical diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 33) with no comorbidity, a clinical diagnosis of panic disorder (PD, n = 13) with no comorbidity, or no clinical diagnosis (n = 48). The sample was selected to be at otherwise low social and medical risk, and all mothers with PD or MDD were in treatment. The findings indicated that (a) infants of mothers with PD or MDD displayed the traditional still-face and reunion effects described in previ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 24, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: M. Katherine Weinberg, Marjorie Beeghly, Karen L. Olson, Edward Tronick Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Six-week postpartum maternal depressive symptoms and 4-month mother-infant self- and interactive contingencyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Associations of 6-week maternal depressive symptoms [Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)] with 4-month mother-infant self- and interactive contingency patterns during face-to-face play were investigated in 132 dyads. Self- and interactive contingency (auto- and lagged cross-correlation, respectively) were assessed by multilevel time-series analysis. Infant and mother gaze, facial and vocal affect, touch, and spatial orientation behaviors were coded second-by-second from split-screen videotape, and a multimodal measure of facial-visual "engagement" was constructed, generating nine modality pairings. ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 24, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Beatrice Beebe, Joseph Jaffe, Karen Buck, Henian Chen, Patricia Cohen, Stanley Feldstein, Howard Andrews Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Maternal depression and anxiety effects on the human fetus: Preliminary findings and clinical implicationsEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Newborns of depressed and anxious mothers show biobehavioral abnormalities suggesting that maternal psychological distress has negative effects on the fetus. Two studies examined the fetuses of depressed and nondepressed mothers: (a) a cross-sectional investigation of fetal activity during the second and third trimesters and (b) an examination of behavioral and heart rate response to vibratory stimulation in late-gestation fetuses. Fetuses of depressed mothers were more active during the fifth, sixth, and seventh gestational months. Assessment of late-term fetuses consisted of a baseline, trials of vibratory stimulation di...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 24, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: John N.I. Dieter, Eugene K. Emory, Katrina C. Johnson, B. Denise Raynor Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Dyadic intervention during pregnancy? Treating pregnant women and possibly reaching the future babyEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article addresses the formative phase that precedes the mother-infant mutually regulating dyad. Biopsychological data presented here suggest that women's affective states during pregnancy - specifically depression, anxiety, and elevated life-stress - are associated with subtle alterations in the neurobiological substrate of the fetus' emerging affect regulation system. The article moves to a general discussion of the emotional experience of pregnancy, and to the use of psychodynamic psychotherapy when problematic aspects of women's representational world lead to negative or dysregulated affect. Two case vignettes are ...
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - September 1, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Sharone Bergner, Catherine Monk, Elizabeth A. Werner Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals

Meeting the emotional needs of infants and toddlers in foster care: The collaborative mental health care experienceEmail this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This paper describes a partnership between an infant mental health consultation program and child welfare authorities, with a special focus on the use of a consultation model to support infants and toddlers in foster care. The authors describe a model of practice that incorporates the transactional model with a developmental perspective to help foster parents understand and address the emotional needs of these children. The clinical implications section reviews strategies for addressing attachment and relationship disturbances, promoting self-regulation, and enhancing social competence in infants and young foster children....
Source: Infant Mental Health Journal - July 16, 2008 Category: Child Development Authors: Evelyn Wotherspoon, Marlene O'Neill-Laberge, June Pirie Tags: Research Articles Source Type: journals