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Background: Children with visual impairment and additional disabilities (VIAD) have difficulty accessing the visual information related to their parents' facial expressions and gestures. Similarly, it may be hard for parents to detect their children's subtle expressions. These challenges in accessibility may compromise emotional availability (EA) in parent--child interactions. The systematic use of the bodily-tactile modality for expressive and receptive communicative functions may function as a strategy to compensate for a child's lack of vision. This multiple-case study explored the effects of a bodily-tactile early intervention for three mothers and their one-year-old children with VIAD. Methods: Video data from baseline, intervention, and follow-up sessions were analyzed using a bodily-tactile coding procedure and EA Scales. Results: During the intervention, all mothers began to use a more bodily-tactile modality in early play routines and in different communicative functions. They increased their use of anticipatory cues, noticing responses, and tactile signs. Moreover, the children were more emotionally available to their mothers during the intervention and follow-up compared to the baseline. Conclusion: The results indicated that, during a short intervention, mothers could adopt a systematic use of the bodily-tactile modality in interactions with their children with VIAD. The results also suggest that, when mothers increased flexibility in communication channels, it was positively linked to their children's EA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research indicates females prefer the use of indirect over direct forms of aggression, whereas the opposite pattern has been found for males. We investigated a specific form of aggression: parental alienating behaviors. Parents who alienate their children from another parent utilize both direct and indirect forms of aggression. We examined whether there are gender differences in the use of these behaviors by analyzing data from two samples: interviews with parents who have been the target of parental alienating behaviors, and family law appellate court rulings in which parental alienation was found. In both studies, mothers used significantly more indirect than direct parental alienating strategies. In contrast, fathers tended to use similar levels of both indirect and direct parental alienating strategies. Further, fathers did not use more direct forms of this type of aggression than mothers. Better standards of practice for the assessment of parental alienation must be developed to prevent misdiagnoses and gender biases., Author(s): Jennifer J. Harman [sup.1], Demosthenes Lorandos [sup.2], Zeynep Biringen [sup.3], Caitlyn Grubb [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.47894.36, 0000 0004 1936 8083, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, , 219 [...]

Caregiver-child relationships offer the first opportunity for a healthy start and the possibility for a secure attachment. Balanced and healthy dyadic emotional communication is referred to as "emotional availability" (EA; Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). EA in a family is enhanced when there is lower stress, often addressed through meditations. In addition, EA is facilitated when a family is aware of the impact of intergenerational issues and current attachment with one's child. Here, we describe these three pillars of our work (EA, attachment, and mindfulness) and put forth the idea that these are all practices that should be done on a daily basis.

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This study examined the longitudinal relations of mother-child affect exchanges at 18?months with children's mastery motivation at 39?months. Observation and questionnaire data were collected from mother-child dyads when children were 18?months; 43 mothers again rated their children's mastery motivation at 39?months. Results suggested that after controlling for gender and the corresponding 18-month mastery aspect, positive affect exchanges had long-term positive relationships with children's persistence and competence, whereas dismissed affect exchanges had long-term negative relationships with children's persistence and independent mastery. Findings suggest that children's autonomous mastery-oriented endeavours have deep roots in their early mother-child affective interactions.

Evidence-based assessment tools provide a scientifically driven way of understanding the quality of communication and connection between a parent or caregiver and child. In this article, the authors describe how these tools can play an important role in the developmentally appropriate evaluation of parent-child attachment in the child welfare system. The authors describe a custody dispute between a biological mother and a foster family, and how information from these tools provided an unbiased way to understand the quality of the relationships between each child and caretaker to help make informed decisions on behalf of the children.

Possible relations between mothers' recollection of the degree to which they were accepted by their parents, sense of self, and perceptions of their children to mother-child interaction were studied. There was an 84 percent concordant classification between recall of parental acceptance and observationally assessed dyadic harmony classification. (RH)

This study examined the qualities that contribute to postdivorce child attachment in a sample of 24 divorcing mothers and their children, ages 12 to 73 months, in the context of shared parenting time arrangements. Child attachment was assessed using Waters's Attachment Q-Set (AQS). Qualities such as age at onset of overnight stays, interparental conflict and communication, and emotional availability were examined for their importance in attachment security and dependency. Study hypotheses were partially supported. Although the study variables collectively did not predict attachment security and dependency outcomes, as hypothesized, the predictor variable of emotional availability (EA) child involvement proved significantly related with AQS security. Children who involved their mothers more in interaction were more secure with them. Further, EA child involvement contributed to attachment outcomes above and beyond age of onset of overnight stays and parent and partner contributions to interparental conflict. KEYWORDS divorce, parent-child relationships, postdivorce attachment DOI: 10.1080/10502551003597782

The observations of psychoanalytically oriented clinicians such as Mahler, Pine, and Bergman and Greenacre were descriptive of intriguing aspects of the infant's transition to upright locomotion. Yet, research on how walking creates changes in the infant and in the family have scarcely been studied. In this naturalistic home study, 46 infants were designated 'earlier' (13 girls and 10 boys) and 'later' (12 girls and 11 boys) walkers based on their relative timing of entry into this developmental transition. Analyses between these two groups were done with age held constant and indicated that the earlier walkers showed a greater rise in autonomous functioning across the transition to self-produced, upright locomotion. Autonomy was assessed as infant proximity-seeking and distancing with respect to mother and 'testing of wills' between mother and child. These findings suggested that the timing of beginning to walk crucially affects the development of autonomy. In addition to these clear differences associated with the walking transition, there were differences between the two groups in an aspect of temperament, Distress to Limitations, even prior to walking onset as well as at all time points of measurement.

This study concentrates on the postdivorce adjustment of parents and children in families with shared parenting time arrangements. Thirty divorcing parents with children aged 12 to 59 months old were interviewed using a semistructured telephone interview regarding their early experiences in the divorce process. Findings showed that work-family balance issues were related to postdivorce parental adjustment for mothers. Interparental hostility was related to child alienation and paternal overnight stays. Length of rime since physical separation was related to number of overnight stays. These results shed light on the early experiences of families with young children going through the divorce process. KEYWORDS. Divorce, postdivorce adjustment, parent--child relationships

Maternal history of abuse has been proposed as a risk factor for child maltreatment, but the background of this 'cycle of abuse' is as yet poorly understood. As a contribution toward a deeper understanding of this phenomenon, this study analyzed whether emotional availability is altered by maternal experiences of physical of sexual abuse during their upbringing. Mothers were contacted by mail and presented with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. To form the index group, women who reached a cutoff for severe sexual and/or physical abuse and whose children were term babies with APGAR scores 7 were included in the study. The women were invited to the laboratory when their infants were 5 months old. Emotional availability was compared with a group of mother-infant pairs matched for infant gender, maternal education, marital status, number of infants, and birth weight. The results show that 5-month postnatal mothers with a history of physical or sexual abuse were significantly more intrusive toward their children than were control mothers. Keywords: emotional availability, child development, physical abuse, sexual abuse, mother-infant-interaction

Parental alienation refers to a parent's attempts to distance a child from the child's other parent. We examined (1) the effects of 'feeling alienation' upon college students' recollections of their childhood relationships, (2) the effects of 'feeling alienation' on perceptions of adult parent-child relationships, and (3) the likelihood of alienation in intact and divorced families. A sample of undergraduates (N = 227) completed the Relationship Distancing Questionnaire and numerous other relationship questionnaires. Results suggested feeling alienation is inversely related to the quality of parent-child relationships during childhood and young adulthood and can be found in intact as well as divorced families. Findings also indicate parental conflict is a better predictor of whether alienation occurs than parents' marital status is. KEYWORDS. Parental alienation, child alienation, parent-child relationships, conflict, divorce, attachment, children of divorce

The emotional availability construct (based on observations of parent-child interactions) was first reconceptualized for research in 1991 as a way to describe the quality of parent-child interactions. Since then, there has been considerable refinement of the construct. EA refers to several parental dimensions (sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, nonhostility) and two child dimensions (responsiveness to parent and involvement of parent). The EA empirical link with attachment and parent-child relationship are reviewed and avenues for future research are suggested.

While most psychological research has emphasized the importance of conflict-free mother-infant interactions, a review of recent research suggests that dyssynchrony, conflict, and their successful resolution are also integral to normative mother-infant interactions and optimal infant outcomes. Theory and research incorporating these concepts are described, areas for research suggested, and clinical applications noted.

Summary: Background: While previous research indicates that low maternal sensitivity in mother‐child interactions puts children at risk of overweight and obesity, maternal intrusiveness has rarely been investigated in association with children's weight. We investigated whether maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness in early childhood predict children's increased body mass index standard deviation scores (BMI‐SDS) at school age. BMI‐SDS are standardized for age and gender with respect to a reference standard. Methods: At baseline (t1), we assessed maternal sensitivity and (non‐)intrusiveness of 116 mothers with their children (48.3% female) aged 5–47 months (M = 24.00, SD = 11.36) using the emotional availability scales. We obtained anthropometric data for mothers at t1 by measuring height and weight in the laboratory and for children at birth assessed by medical staff. Six years later (t2) we obtained anthropometric data for children in the laboratory or based on parental report. Linear regression analyses were run with child BMI‐SDS at t2 as outcome and sensitivity and (non‐)intrusiveness as predictors, adjusting for confounders and exploring child age and gender as moderators. Results: Maternal sensitivity only negatively predicted children's BMI‐SDS in girls, while maternal intrusiveness predicted higher child BMI‐SDS at school age regardless of child gender. The effect of maternal non‐intrusiveness remained significant when controlling for confounders. Conclusion: Maternal intrusiveness in early childhood seems to represent a risk factor for increased BMI‐SDS in children, while lower maternal sensitivity tends to be a risk factor for increased BMI‐SDS in girls. This may have implications for prevention or intervention programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Bowlby's attachment theory has had a profound effect on research in developmental psychology, its application to clinical practice has barely been explored. The theory and its origins are outlined, and attachment-theory concepts that may have clinical applicability are explored, with particular attention to the construct of internal working models. In addition, psychotherapeutic approaches using attachment-theory concepts are summarized.

In an investigation of gender-based differences in autonomy and relatedness in the mother-toddler dyad, gender-specific stylistic differences were found in mothers' sensitivity toward their toddlers. In the context of greater sensitivity, boys appeared to control the flow of interactions (initiation and maintenance) to a greater extent than did girls.

This study examined relations among parent adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), parent mental distress, child social–emotional functioning, and parent emotional availability (EA) among parents and children served by an Early Head Start program in an American Indian community. The majority of parents and children in the study were American Indian/Alaska Native. American Indian/Alaska Native communities experience relatively high rates of trauma, socioeconomic disparities, and mental health challenges. In this context, young children may be especially vulnerable to early life stress. Further, a strong body of literature demonstrates the long-term effects of ACEs on individuals' mental health, as well as their child's social–emotional functioning. In this study we examined a model to test the relation of parent ACEs to children's social–emotional functioning, with an indirect effect via a latent "mental distress" variable consisting of parent depression, anxiety, and parenting-related distress. Results supported this model, suggesting that parent ACEs related to children's social–emotional problems by way of parent mental distress. However, when a categorical measure of parent EA was added as a moderator, the model only remained significant in the low EA parent group. These results provided evidence for a "buffering" effect of high parent EA on the relation between parent ACEs, parent mental distress, and children's social–emotional problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a new observational measure for assessing a mother's prenatal emotional availability in relationship towards her unborn baby (Pre-EA). Concurrent associations between a mother's Pre-EA, her adult attachment style (AAI), and prenatal maternal reflective functioning (RF) (Pregnancy Interview) were assessed among 45 pregnant women (gw 22-31) screened positive for depressive symptoms in a community-based sample. Pre-EA was measured from a videotaped, semi-structured maternal-fetal interaction assessment procedure (MIM). The two Pre-EA dimensions, sensitivity and non-hostility, were related to adult secure-autonomous attachment style and higher prenatal maternal RF. The results show that this observed emotional availability may be assessed during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]