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Recently, arguments have been forwarded regarding the significance of the husbandwife relationship in investigating the family context of early child development. The current study examines associations among contemporaneous measures of marital quality, parenting attitudes and behavior, and toddler development in twoparent families. Seventy-five families with one child, 20 months old, served as subjects. Child-mother and child-father attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation procedure, and child task behavior was rated during a problem-solving task. Parents completed questionnaires concerning marital adjustment, parenting attitudes, and perceptions. Independent observations were conducted of parental behavioral sensitivity and couple marital harmony The hypothesis that good marital quality would be associated with optimal toddler functioning and sensitive parenting was generally supported by the data The magnitude of effect was greater for marriage-parenting associations than for marriage-child associations. Differences in patterns of intercorrelation for mothers and fathers are presented, and direct and indirect associations between marital quality, parenting, and child development are discussed.Traditionally, studies of infant and toddler development have examined only the child or the relationship between the child and his or her mother. Studies conducted during the last decade have emphasized the importance of the father's parenting role (e.g.,

The family context of toddler development was explored with 75 20-month-olds and their parents. To determine the impact of quantitative and qualitative aspects of fathering, relationships between father involvement in child rearing, parenting characteristics (attitudes and behavior), and child adaptation were investigated. Child characteristics included security of toddler-father and toddler-mother attachment assessed in the strange situation, and toddler affect and task orientation in a problem-solving task. Parental attitudes and father involvement were assessed with questionnaires. Analyses examining associations among father involvement, parenting characteristics, and toddler development demonstrated significant relationships. Extent of father involvement was related to toddler development with both fathers and mothers. However, results highlighted the salience of qualitative characteristics (attitudes, behavioral sensitivity) rather than quantitative characteristics (amount of father's time with child) of parenting for toddler development.

The construct of emotional availability (EA) refers to the capacity of a dyad to share an emotional connection and to enjoy a mutually fulfilling and healthy relationship. The EA Scales were designed to assess multiple components of a relationship from the perspective of both partners. The four caregiver components include sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, and nonhostility; two scales measure the child's responsiveness to the caregiver and involvement of the caregiver. We describe the EA construct and introduce the papers in this issue, focusing on the contributions of this Special Section to a developmental psychopathology framework.

This investigation examined the longitudinal prediction of emotional availability in mother-child interaction during middle childhood from two indicators of socioemotional functioning in infancy: security of infant-mother attachment; and maternal depressive symptoms. Forty-five children and their mothers were seen during infancy: security of attachment was assessed in the laboratory Strange Situation; and mothers completed a self-report of depressive symptoms. At age 7, children were observed with their mothers in a lab playroom. The dyad's emotional availability was assessed during reunion following an hour-long separation. Results demonstrated significant associations between infancy and middle childhood socioemotional organization, both for mothers and for children. Security of attachment in infancy was related to maternal sensitivity and structuring, and to child responsiveness and involvement at age 7. Maternal depressive symptoms in infancy were associated with maternal sensitivity and structuring at age 7. Greatest differentiation was found between infants with secure attachments and those with insecure-disorganized attachments.

This prospective 20-year study assessed associations between maternal depressive symptoms in infancy, childhood, and adolescence and child and adolescent depressive symptoms in a sample of families at high psychosocial risk. Maternal symptomatology was assessed with the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D;Radloff, 1977) when children were infants (12 months), school-aged (age 8), and adolescents (age 19). Children's depressive symptoms were measured at age 8 (Dimensions of Depression Profile for Children and Adolescents, Hatter & Nowakowski, 1987) and age 19 (CES-D). Maternal depressive symptoms during infancy contributed to the prediction of child depressive symptoms at age 8, after controlling for concurrent maternal depressive symptoms, clinical family risk in infancy, and gender. Clinical family risk in infancy marginally contributed to the prediction model. Disorganization of attachment in infancy and maternal hostility were independent predictors of depressive symptoms at age 8 and did not mediate the relation between maternal and child depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms in adolescence were predicted by gender, children's depressive symptoms at age 8, maternal depressive symptoms in adolescence, and maternal depressive symptoms in infancy. There was no moderating effect of gender. Adding to previous evidence on the importance of early maternal depression, maternal depressive symptoms during infancy were strongly related to the development of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence.Keywords maternal depressive symptoms; child depressive symptoms; attachment; maternal sensitivity There is now ample empirical evidence that depressive symptoms are not exclusive to adulthood. In fact, depression can be detected in children as young as 5 years of age, if not younger (see Luby, Belden, & Spitznagel, 2006; Luby, Heffelfinger, Mrakotsky, Brown, Hessler, Wallis, & Spitznagel, 2003;Rutter, Izard, & Read, 1986). Depression with childhood onset can have serious long-term developmental consequences, such as poorer school performance, interpersonal conflict, substance abuse, delinquency, and increased risk of suicide during the adolescent years (Elgar, McGrath, Waschbusch, Stewart, & Curtis, 2004). One important precursor of childhood and adolescent depression identified in the literature is the presence of maternal depressive symptoms Downey & Coyne, Correspondence should be addressed to Jean-François Bureau, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to jbureau@challiance.org. Goodman & Gotlib, 1999;. Previous research has identified possible mediators (e.g. maternal sensitivity, quality of attachment) and moderators (e.g. gender) of this transmission of depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to explore the importance of timing of exposure to maternal depressive symptoms, as well as the relative influence of maternal sensitivity, security and disorganization of...

In this investigation we examined the developmental correlates and predictors of maternal emotional availability in interactions with their 7-year-old children among a sample of families at psychosocial risk. We found developmental coherence in maternal interactive behavior, and in the relations between maternal emotional availability and children's functioning in middle childhood. Mothers and children were observed at home and in a laboratory playroom in infancy to assess maternal interactive behavior and child attachment security. When children were 7 years of age, dyads were observed in the lab; maternal emotional availability was coded using the Emotional Availability Scales, and children's disorganized and controlling attachment behavior was assessed. Classroom teachers reported on children's behavior problems; at age 8, children reported on their depressive symptoms. Results showed that aspects of maternal emotional availability (sensitivity, nonhostility, nonintrusiveness [passive/withdrawn behavior]) were associated with children's functioning in middle childhood: (a) controlling and disorganized attachment behavior, (b) behavior problems in school, and (c) self-reported depressive symptoms. Maternal emotional availability in childhood was predicted by early mother-infant relationship dysfunction (maternal hostility, disrupted communication, and infant attachment insecurity).

Much research on children in military families has taken a deficit approach—that is, it has portrayed these children as a population susceptible to psychological damage from the hardships of military life, such as frequent moves and separation from their parents during deployment. But M. Ann Easterbrooks, Kenneth Ginsburg, and Richard M. Lerner observe that most military children turn out just fine. They argue that, to better serve military children, we must understand the sources of strength that help them cope with adversity and thrive. In other words, we must understand their resilience. The authors stress that resilience is not a personal trait but a product of the relationships between children and the people and resources around them. In this sense, military life, along with its hardships, offers many sources for resilience—for example, a strong sense of belonging to a supportive community with a shared mission and values. Similarly, children whose parents are deployed may build their self-confidence by taking on new responsibilities in the family, and moving offers opportunities for adventure and personal growth. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drew more and more service members into combat, the military and civilian groups alike rolled out dozens of programs aimed at boosting military children’s resilience. Although the authors applaud this effort, they also note that few of these programs have been based on scientific evidence of what works, and few have been rigorously evaluated for their effectiveness. They call for a program of sustained research to boost our understanding of military children’s resilience.