<div> <div> <div> <p>Past parent-child attachment studies mainly focused on behavioral exchanges during the early years without exploring the role played by verbal exchanges. During the transition to early childhood, developing cognitive and language abilities provide a new window to examine the influence of mother-led verbal communication skills about attachment-related events, and whether those skills contribute to child attachment security. This study investigates maternal verbal communication skills (i.e., co-construction skills), their relationships with maternal sensitivity and child attachment security, and whether maternal co-construction skills add unique information to the prediction of child security, above and beyond any contributions of maternal sensitivity at 2-3 years of age. Fifty-four mother-child dyads participated in the current study. Maternal co-construction skills were assessed via a joint storytelling task; transcriptions were created and then coded using a set of three scales. Maternal sensitivity and attachment security were assessed using the Maternal Behavior with Preschoolers Q-set (MBPQS) and Attachment Q-set (AQS), respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to address the questions posed. Results indicated that maternal co-construction is not related with maternal sensitivity, though some maternal co-constructive abilities were associated with sensitivity; maternal co- construction was not a significant correlate of child attachment security at 2-3 years of age. Overall, results from this current study extend those of former research on maternal verbal co- construction skills and their relationship with mother-child attachment relationships, demonstrating that maternal language input may not start to play an important role in secure base behavior (i.e., security) until children are older. However, the association between some maternal co-construction skills and maternal sensitivity revealed the potential importance of language communication in mother-child attachment relationship. Verbal abilities were argued to be an important part in parent-child relationships and may influences child attachment longitudinally not concurrently at the beginning of early childhood.</p> </div> </div> </div>

Television is a pervasive influence in today's family life. The number of hours family members, particularly young children, spend watching TV must replace some other functions in the viewer's lives. Since one of the primary tasks of families with young children is the socialization of their youngsters, one might assume that TV interferes to some extent with this process. Among aspects of the socialization process are the need for the child to observe and interact frequently with role models, to obtain ample feedback on the appropriateness of his behavior, and to have many opportunities to test out what he has observed through role playing so he can incorporate and adopt relevant behaviors and values. These all take much time since socialization is a long-term, subtle process. It was the basic premise of this research that television can be a disruptive force in the socialization process because it limits children's opportunities for interaction with parents and for play. To test this, 39 mothers and their preschool-aged children were observed under two conditions, when a television was on and when it was off. On both occasions, observers rated each dyad on interactive measures such as eye contact, physical touch, proximity, and verbalization, and on interaction with alternate activities. Attention to the television was also measured. Analysis of the data showed that the presence of television significantly decreased eye contact, verbalization, and interaction with alternate activities. Furthermore, interactions were less extensive and Ss tended not to respond to each other's comments or questions when the TV was on. Children also tended to shift attention more frequently if they watch considerable amounts of TV at home, while children of mothers who watch little TV at home tended to be considerably more attentive to the TV in the experimental condition. It was concluded that TV does interfere with some aspects of the socialization process by decreasing interaction and play-related activities. A question was raised, however, whether children who watch substantial amounts of TV might not attend less to the set, thus offsetting some of the negative effects related to decreased interaction with parents and toys.

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It is well documented that exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) negatively affects children’s developmental outcomes (Chan & Yeung, 2009; Evans, Davies & DiLillo, 2008) and may lead to the expression of symptomatology consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Graham-Bermann, De Voe, Mattis, Lynch & Thomas, 2006; Kilpatrick & Williams,1998). Currently there is no consensus as to the nature of the influence of mother-child relationships on child outcomes such as post-traumatic stress symptoms in IPV-exposed families. The present study examined the role of maternal influences, such as the quality of mother-child interaction, maternal depression, and maternal violence history on sibling trauma outcomes. Results indicated that increased maternal depressive symptoms, maternal violence history, and negative mother-child interactions did not significantly predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in siblings exposed to IPV. Findings provided support for the notion of maternal compensatory strategies used to protect siblings from the detrimental consequences of IPV exposure.

It is well documented that exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) negatively affects children’s developmental outcomes (Chan & Yeung, 2009; Evans, Davies & DiLillo, 2008) and may lead to the expression of symptomatology consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Graham-Bermann, De Voe, Mattis, Lynch & Thomas, 2006; Kilpatrick & Williams,1998). Currently there is no consensus as to the nature of the influence of mother-child relationships on child outcomes such as post-traumatic stress symptoms in IPV-exposed families. The present study examined the role of maternal influences, such as the quality of mother-child interaction, maternal depression, and maternal violence history on sibling trauma outcomes. Results indicated that increased maternal depressive symptoms, maternal violence history, and negative mother-child interactions did not significantly predict post-traumatic stress symptoms in siblings exposed to IPV. Findings provided support for the notion of maternal compensatory strategies used to protect siblings from the detrimental consequences of IPV exposure.

We performed an intervention program aimed at promoting a healthy relationship between teenage mothers and their babies, with 26 mothers between 15 and 19 years old, who have one son or daughter between 0 and 6 months old. They were from a poor area of Lima, Peru. The intervention was conducted in four groups, each of which had ten sessions. We assessed the interaction between mother and baby, the mother’s interpretation of emotions and the maternal representations (a description of the baby, of herself as a mother and of the relationship between them), before and after the program. The same evaluations were performed with a comparison group of 18 young mothers with the same characteristics. The article presents and discusses the results of both evaluations. / Se realizó un programa de intervención dirigido a promover un vínculo saludable entre madres adolescentes y sus bebes, con 26 madres entre 15 y 19 años de edad y con un hijo o hija entre 0 y 6 meses de edad de una zona pobre de Lima, Perú. La intervención se realizó en cuatro grupos y cada uno tuvo diez sesiones. Se evaluó la interacción entre madre y bebe, la interpretación que realiza la madre de los afectos, y las representaciones maternales (descripción del bebe, de sí misma como mamá y de la relación entre los dos), antes y después del programa. Se realizaron las mismas evaluaciones con un grupo comparativo de 18 jóvenes con las mismas características. En este artículo se presentan y discuten los resultados obtenidos en ambas evaluaciones.

This study investigated the interactions of facially deformed infants (FD) with their mothers compared to a facially nondeformed control group (FND). All mother-infant dyads were videotaped for 10 minutes during a free play period. Mothers were instructed to spend time with their baby as they normally would. The videotaped interactions of 14 FD dyads and 14 FND dyads were rated by five raters for quality of interactions, amount of vocalization, touch, and face-to-face gaze. The infants were rated on their level of attractiveness from polaroid pictures and videotapes. Mothers also completed a questionnaire which assessed their infants' temperament. Three of the studies' four hypotheses were confirmed. First, the more attractive an infant was, the better his/her interactions with the mother were judged to be. Second, FD infant dyads were rated as significantly poorer in quality of interaction than FND dyads, although FD* dyads did not spend significantly less time vocalizing, touching, or in face-to-face gaze as predicted. A significantly higher percentage of FD infants were judged as having difficult temperament relative to FND infants. Finally, as predicted it was found that infants with difficult temperaments were more likely to exhibit poorer quality interactions than infants with less difficult temperaments. These results have important implications for providing anticipatory guidance to caregivers of FD infants. Without intervention, FD infants appear at risk for subsequent developmental problems stemming from disrupted early mother-infant interactions. Future research should focus on these interactions soon after the infant's birth, attempt to determine if FD infants' emotions can be reliably understood from their facial expressions (as has been found in normal infants) and extend the current research paradigm to include fathers of FD infants.

The improving prognosis for pediatric leukemia patients requires that involved professionals increase attention to the emotional adjustment of these children. This study was designed to determine (a) how mothers of leukemia patients perceived their children's personalities in order to identify any specific emotional difficulties which these children may experience and (b) if their perceptions differed from either mothers of cystic fibrosis and diabetes patients or mothers of healthy children. Subjects included 24 mothers in each of three groups: leukemia, other illness, and healthy. Children in both illness groups received higher scores than healthy children on Adjustment, Achievement, Somatic Concern, Depression, Psychosis, and Social Skills scales as measured by the Personality Inventory for Children; however, only the leukemic children were rated higher in areas of Anxiety and Withdrawal. Implications for treatment and future research are discussed.