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Providing adequate parental support is pivotal when treating excessive infant crying, but there are indications that parents may not feel supported by professional health care. This study investigated maternal satisfaction with health care and health care needs, comparing mothers of infants with (N = 110) and without a medical cause for the crying (N = 101). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to detect patterns in health care needs. Dissatisfaction with health care (often related to feelings of not being taken seriously) was reported by 55.0%. Mothers of infants with a medical cause for the crying rated health care as more effective but were also more often dissatisfied with health care. Most mothers needed help both for the crying of their infant and their own well-being. The results suggest that offering effective reassurance to parents without downplaying the seriousness of the situation and being sensitive to the specific needs of each family is essential.

Samenvatting: Algemeen wordt verondersteld dat hedendaags opvoedingsadvies voor een groot deel afhankelijk is van wetenschappelijke kennis. Hoewel de kennis over fysieke en psychische ontwikkeling van kinderen sinds de tweede helft van de 19de eeuw enorm is toegenomen lijkt zich dit niet rechtstreeks te vertalen in op wetenschap gebaseerd opvoedingsadvies. In dit artikel worden verschillende opvoedingsdoelen en bijbehorend opvoedingsadvies van de laatste 500 jaar nader beschouwd, waarbij we steeds zien dat het opvoedingsdoel de opvoedingsmethode bepaalt, ongeacht eventuele wetenschappelijke inzichten. Wetenschappelijke kennis wordt hoogstens ingezet om de reeds gekozen opvoeding te onderbouwen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major depressive disorder is the most common mood disorder in the United States today and the need for adequate treatment has been universally desired for over a century. Harry Harlow, famous for his research with rhesus monkeys, was heavily criticized when he undertook his controversial experiments trying to find a solution for depression in the 1960s–1970s. His research, however, did not just evolve gradually from his earlier research into learning and into love. Recently disclosed hand‐written notes show, for the first time, the severity of Harlow's depressions as he wrote in detail about his feelings and thoughts during his stay in a mental hospital in 1968. In these notes, Harlow repeatedly vowed to put every effort into finding a cure for depression. This may, for a large part, explain why he did not stop his rigorous animal experiments where critics argue he should have, and he eventually managed to book positive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment theory, developed by child psychiatrist John Bowlby, is considered a major theory in developmental psychology. Attachment theory can be seen as resulting from Bowlby's personal experiences, his psychoanalytic education, his subsequent study of ethology, and societal developments during the 1930s and 1940s. One of those developments was the outbreak of World War II and its effects on children's psychological wellbeing. In 1950, Bowlby was appointed WHO consultant to study the needs of children who were orphaned or separated from their families for other reasons and needed care in foster homes or institutions. The resulting report is generally considered a landmark publication in psychology, although it subsequently met with methodological criticism. In this paper, by reconstructing Bowlby's visit to several European countries, on the basis of notebooks and letters, the authors shed light on the background of this report and the way Bowlby used or neglected the findings he gathered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American-Canadian psychologist Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999) developed the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to measure mother-child attachment and attachment theorists have used it ever since. When Ainsworth published the first results of the SSP in 1969, it seemed a completely novel and unique instrument. However, in this paper we will show that the SSP had many precursors and that the road to such an instrument was long and winding. Our analysis of hitherto little-known studies on children in strange situations allowed us to compare these earlier attempts with the SSP. We argue that it was the combination of Ainsworth's working experience with William Blatz and John Bowlby, her own research in Uganda and Baltimore, and the strong connection of the SSP with attachment theory, that made the SSP differ enough from the other strange situation studies to become one of the most widely used instruments in developmental psychology today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment theory, developed by child psychiatrist John Bowlby, is considered a major theory in developmental psychology. Attachment theory can be seen as resulting from Bowlby's personal experiences, his psychoanalytic education, his subsequent study of ethology, and societal developments during the 1930s and 1940s. One of those developments was the outbreak of World War II and its effects on children's psychological wellbeing. In 1950, Bowlby was appointed WHO consultant to study the needs of children who were orphaned or separated from their families for other reasons and needed care in foster homes or institutions. The resulting report is generally considered a landmark publication in psychology, although it subsequently met with methodological criticism. In this paper, by reconstructing Bowlby's visit to several European countries, on the basis of notebooks and letters, the authors shed light on the background of this report and the way Bowlby used or neglected the findings he gathered., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of The History of the Behavioral Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

One in ten parents in the Netherlands feels there is a problem with their baby's sleep. Healthy sleep is very important for children and parents. Because of the many questions asked by parents, professionals are in need of clear guidelines. The guideline 'Healthy sleep and sleep problems in children', provided by the Dutch centre for youth health (NCJ, Nederlands Centrum Jeugdgezondheid) provides information on promoting healthy sleep behaviour and sleep interventions. We argue in this article that: (a) parents may have doubts about the recommended interventions; (b) the interventions are often not compatible with the concept of 'sensitive parenting'; and (c) the guideline does not include all possible interventions. We are pleading for a broadening of the spectrum of interventions. It is in the interest of parents as well as infants that interventions aimed at the needs of the infant are included in the spectrum of sleep interventions being offered.