Attachment, household chaos, and children's health.

Introduction: Despite growing interest in the links between sociocontextual factors and children's behavioral functioning, few studies have investigated how such factors, in combination, relate to health outcomes or vary across mental and physical well-being. We evaluated the direct and interactive associations of parental attachment and household chaos with preschool-age children's mental and physical health.

Method: Ninety-four parents completed questionnaires about their attachment styles, disorganization and confusion in the home, and their children's health functioning.

Institutional Care for Young Children: Review of Literature and Policy Implications.

Millions of infants and toddlers are in institutional care around the world, care that is poorly suited to meet young children's developmental needs. In this article, we briefly review the history of institutional care and surrogate care. We then discuss why institutional care is at odds with children's needs, and review the empirical evidence regarding the effects of institutional care on young children's development.

Maltreated and nonmaltreated children's knowledge of the juvenile dependency court system.

The current study examined age differences in maltreated and nonmaltreated children's knowledge of juvenile dependency court vocabulary and proceedings. One hundred and sixty-seven children aged 4-14 years were questioned about their understanding of legal vocabulary and about the content of a story depicting a child involved in dependency court. Age-related increases emerged across all measures of children's legal understanding.

Maltreated children's understanding of and emotional reactions to dependency court involvement.

Little is known about the extent to which maltreated children understand what is happening during their participation in court proceedings, despite large numbers of children coming into contact with the legal system as victims of maltreatment. In the present study, maltreated 4- to 15-year-olds were interviewed about their understanding of dependency court on the day of their scheduled court visit. Their feelings about attending their hearings were also assessed, and after their hearing, their understanding of the decisions was examined.

Suggestibility, social support, and memory for a novel experience in young children.

This study examined 5- and 6-year-olds' suggestibility and interviewer demeanor as joint predictors of their memory for a novel experience. Session 1 consisted of children taking part in a novel laboratory event. Session 2 took place after approximately a 1-week delay and consisted of children completing both a memory test concerning what happened during the prior event and the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC).