[Adverse Childhood Experiences in Mothers and Intergenerational Family Violence].

For children, own adverse experiences, as well as their exposure to intimate partner violence poses a severe risk for health and development. In order to answer the question of intergenerational transmission of family violence, adverse childhood experiences in mothers are considered to be a significant risk factor for the occurrence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence in families, which, however, has been little studied in Germany. Therefore, this paper uses cross-sectional data of 5.

Family risk and early attachment development: The differential role of parental sensitivity.

Family risks are known to be detrimental to children's attachment development. This study investigated whether parental sensitivity plays different roles in early attachment development in the context of risk: Sensitivity was hypothesized to mediate risk effects on attachment, as well as a moderator that shapes the relation between risk and attachment. Multiple family risks, parental sensitivity (defined as responsivity and supportive presence), and children's attachment security of 197 infants and toddlers (M  = 15.

Fathers, mothers and family violence: Which risk factors contribute to the occurrence of child maltreatment and exposure to intimate partner violence in early childhood? Findings in a German longitudinal in-depth study.

Background: Family violence, especially child maltreatment and intimate partner violence, in early childhood has a strong impact on negative developmental outcomes. There is evidence of child, parental, and family risk factors. Less is known about paternal than maternal risk factors.

Child Abuse Potential in Young German Parents: Predictors, Associations with Self-reported Maltreatment and Intervention Use.

Since child maltreatment has highly negative effects on child adjustment, early identification of at-risk families is important. This study focuses on longitudinal risk factors for child maltreatment and associations between abuse risk and occurrence. It also examines whether abuse risk and involvement in early childhood intervention are associated.

[Working with Fathers to Prevent Child Abuse. A Pilot Evaluation of the Caring Dads Program in Germany].

Selective and indicated prevention programs for fathers at high risk of (repeated) child maltreatment are lacking within early childhood intervention and child protection. The Canadian Caring Dads Program has been started in Germany in 2008. The aim of this study was to examine fathers who participated in a Caring Dads program in Düsseldorf, Hanover or Groß-Gerau until 2016.

Risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence in early childhood: Findings in a representative cross-sectional sample in Germany.

Background: The KiD 0-3 national main study is a cross-sectional study on adversity in early childhood and parental access to support services, conducted as part of a long-term policy program for early intervention services in Germany.

Objective: To identify risk factors for child abuse, neglect and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and investigate if parental use of early intervention programs or contact to child welfare services was associated with reported child maltreatment.

Participants And Setting: 8063 families with infants and toddlers participated in the survey.

[Psychosocial Risk Factors and Negative Emotionality in Early Childhood: Mothers' Perspective].

Psychosocial Risk Factors and Negative Emotionality in Early Childhood: Mothers' Perspective Based on a nationally representative study of parents, this study examines risk factors for mothers' perceptions of young children's negative emotionality, focusing the role of mothers' educational resources and related psychosocial risk factors. Participants were 7,311 mothers with children below age 48 month. Mothers' perception of child emotionality was assessed through two factors, irritability and defiance.

[Growing up under adversity in Germany : Design and methods of a developmental study on risk and protective mechanisms in families with diverse psychosocial risk].

Family adversity comprises many risk factors for parents and children. The German early intervention approach Frühe Hilfen aims at providing enduring, effective, and scientifically validated prevention and intervention for effective child protection against those risks. The study on risk and protective mechanisms in the development of families with diverse psychosocial risks aims at identifying those mechanisms that cause and stabilize or moderate and diminish maltreatment and neglect, as well as cognitive, social, and emotional developmental deviations in risk families, specifically in the current German social and child protection system.

Influence of early regulatory problems in infants on their development at 12 months: a longitudinal study in a high-risk sample.

Background: This study examined the extent to which regulatory problems in infants at 4 and 6 months influence childhood development at 12 months. The second aim of the study was to examine the influence maternal distress has on 4-month-old children's subsequent development as well as gender differences with regard to regulatory problems and development.

Methods: 153 mother-child dyads enrolled in the family support research project "Nobody slips through the net" constituted the comparison group.

[Differentiated structures of early prevention measures for families at risk using the example of the project "nobody slips through the net"].

Against the background of practical experiences from the Early Prevention model project "Nobody slips through the net" (in three counties of Germany) the necessity of differentiated structures of preventive measures for different groups of families will be discussed. Therefore a distribution in three types of families the visiting qualified person could be confronted with during their work in the families' homes is proposed, especially with respect to the degree of risk and available resources. We conclude by illustrating the implications of this approach by means of a case vignette.

[Assessing risk exposure in families within the scope of early intervention: the Heidelberg Stress scale (HBS) and its quality criteria].

The aim of the study presented is to introduce the newly developed instrument to assess stress, the Heidelberg Stress Scale (Heidelberger Belastungsskala--HBS), and to examine its psychometric characteristics. The HBS was developed for a low-threshold and multi-professional assessment of a family's stresses and resources after the birth of a child. The HBS can be used in the outreach work of family midwives, for instance, as well as in research.

[Persistent, excessive crying in 5-month-old infants and the pre-, peri- and postnatal adversities of their mothers in a high-risk sample].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between persistent, excessive crying in 5-month-old infants and the pre- and perinatal adversities as well as postpartal mood of their mothers.

Method: A sample of 300 mother-child dyads was examined at infants' age of 18.5 weeks.

[How to involve fathers in parent-infant therapy].

This paper deals with the role of fathers within a context of parent-infant counseling or therapy. A review of the evidence regarding father-infant interaction and of fathers' involvement in therapeutic intervention is complemented by a case vignette of a young family. It illustrates the different personal characteristics of each parent in their family interaction and delineates options for therapists, notably the useful potentials of fathers.

Links between maternal postpartum depressive symptoms, maternal distress, infant gender and sensitivity in a high-risk population.

Background: Maternal postpartum depression has an impact on mother-infant interaction. Mothers with depression display less positive affect and sensitivity in interaction with their infants compared to non-depressed mothers. Depressed women also show more signs of distress and difficulties adjusting to their role as mothers than non-depressed women.

[Programs with psycho-social support for fathers of infants and toddlers with special regard to their participation motivation].

This paper shows different public and home based programs for fathers before and after the birth of a child. Some of the programs are part of general educational programs for parents; others are more gender-specific or focused on families within special contexts. The article's main focus is on the fathers' motivation to participate in such programs.

[Paternal presence--a four-level model].

A framework model for paternal presence is introduced, which is meant to assist the integration of the often times confusing magnitude of theoretical findings of contemporary father research. The presented model includes a biological, an intrapersonal, an interpersonal as well as a family level. The levels are based on and contain one another.

Father-infant interaction, paternal ideas about early child care, and their consequences for the development of children's self-recognition.

In this longitudinal study, the authors addressed intracultural variation on fathers' interactions with their 3-month-old infants, their ideas about parental care, and the timing of their children's self-recognition at the age of 18-20 months. Participants were 24 middle-class German fathers and their firstborn children. Two behavioral clusters emerged: a more proximal parenting style with extensive body contact and a more distal parenting style with extensive object stimulation.