I'm with you, baby: Using parental embodied mentalizing in a pilot study to capture change following the circle of security parenting intervention.

Supported by a large body of work demonstrating the impact of infant attachment representations on subsequent development, numerous therapeutic programs have been developed to promote secure attachment, with increasing focus on parental mentalizing. Nonetheless, empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness has yet to be fully established. The current pilot study (N = 24) was designed to evaluate whether and to what extent parents' shifts in parental mentalizing following a brief attachment-based group intervention, namely circle of security parenting (COSP; Cooper, Hoffman & Powell, 2009) can be captured using the parental embodied mentalizing instrument (PEM; Shai & Belsky, 2017).

Beyond Reactive Attachment Disorder: How Might Attachment Research Inform Child Psychiatry Practice?

This article provides an updated review of attachment research with a focus on how comprehensive clinical assessment and intervention informs the care of young children. Child psychiatrists can serve as an important part of care coordination teams working with young children who have histories of early maltreatment and/or disruption in caregiving whether or not the children they are seeing meet criteria for an attachment disorder. Child psychiatrists should be familiar with both comprehensive assessment and the recent attachment-based interventions and appreciate how pharmacotherapy can be a useful adjunctive intervention when intensive therapy alone is ineffective.

Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder.

This Practice Parameter is a revision of a previous Parameter addressing reactive attachment disorder that was published in 2005. It reviews the current status of reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DESD) with regard to assessment and treatment. Attachment is a central component of social and emotional development in early childhood, and disordered attachment is defined by specific patterns of abnormal social behavior in the context of "insufficient care" or social neglect.

The state of evidence-based parenting interventions for parents who are substance-involved.

Approximately 70 million children and adolescents live with at least one parent who abuses or is dependent on alcohol or an illicit substance. Given the negative parenting practices that substance-involved mothers and fathers tend to exhibit as well as the poor outcomes that their children, particularly their young children, experience, evidence-based parenting interventions are an important complement to substance abuse treatments. At this time, there are few studies that compare the efficacy of parenting interventions for these parents, however.

Narrative story stems with high risk six year-olds: differential associations with mother- and teacher-reported psycho-social adjustment.

Children's responses on a Narrative Story Stem Technique (NSST) were coded using scales reflecting essential attachment constructs, specifically, attachment, exploratory, sociability, and caregiving behavioral systems, as originally conceived by Bowlby ( 1973 , 1982 ) and elaborated upon by his followers (Cassidy, 2008 ). NSST responses were examined in relation to both mother- and teacher-reported psycho-social adjustment and risk using the MacArthur Health & Behavior Questionnaire (HBQ). Forty-six children participated (average age 6 years 10 months), 19 of whom had high-risk backgrounds, and the rest demographically matched.

The influence of orphan care and other household shocks on health status over time: a longitudinal study of children's caregivers in rural Malawi.

In the context of rising rates of orphanhood in AIDS-affected settings, very little is understood about implications for caregiver well-being given increasing and intensifying responsibilities for the care of orphaned children. Emotional distress and self-reported health status as well as shifts in household orphan care, wealth, food security and recent illness and death among household members were measured among a panel of 1219 caregivers in rural Malawi between 2007 and 2009. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of improved and diminished caregiver health and emotional distress.

Attachment research and Early Head Start: from data to practice.

Early Head Start is the only federal program in the United States to support families from birth to three-years, a phase in which attachment is a central developmental task. The papers which make up this Special Issue represent formative work in using attachment theory and measures to frame research in Early Head Start. In this commentary, we offer some initial thoughts on how each of the studies presented might be used to foster program improvement and inspire research that will address pressing questions looking forward.

Adolescent mothers' relationships with their own mothers: impact on parenting outcomes.

This study examined the relationship between mother-grandmother relationship quality and adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors using longitudinal multimethod, multi-informant data. Participants were 181 urban, African American adolescent mothers. Self-report data on mother-grandmother relationship conflict and depressive symptoms were collected after delivery and at 6-, 13-, and 24-month follow-up visits.

Process evaluation of an in-school anti-tobacco media campaign in Louisiana.

Objectives: In light of challenges imposed by the changing media landscape and decreasing classroom time available for health interventions, new approaches are needed to disseminate anti-tobacco messages to adolescents. This study reported process evaluation of an in-school three-year anti-tobacco media campaign conducted in 10 schools in Louisiana.

Methods: Over three years, 10 schools received an in-school anti-tobacco media campaign.

Co-use of alcohol and tobacco among ninth-graders in Louisiana.

Introduction: The co-use of alcohol and tobacco by adolescents is a public health problem that continues well into adulthood and results in negative behavioral, social, and health consequences. The purpose of this study was to examine the co-use of alcohol and tobacco among ninth-graders in south-central Louisiana.

Methods: We created a health habits survey to collect data from 4,750 ninth-grade students, mean age 15.

A school-based environmental intervention to reduce smoking among high school students: the Acadiana Coalition of Teens against Tobacco (ACTT).

A school-based environmental program to reduce adolescent smoking was conducted in 20 schools (10 intervention; 10 control) in south central Louisiana. The 9th grade cohort (n = 4,763; mean age = 15.4 yrs; 51% female; 61% Caucasian; 30-day smoking prevalence at baseline = 25%) was followed over four years for 30-day smoking prevalence with the school as the unit of analysis.

The role of mental health factors, behavioral factors, and past experiences in the prediction of rapid repeat pregnancy in adolescence.

Purpose: This study investigates the predictors of rapid repeat pregnancy (subsequent pregnancy within 24 months of previous pregnancy outcome) in a sample of urban adolescents.

Methods: Adolescents aged 12-19 years (N = 354) who were predominantly African-American (94.1%) completed individual interviews during pregnancy and at 24 months postpartum.

Depressive symptoms in youth heads of household in Rwanda: correlates and implications for intervention.

Objective: To examine the level of depressive symptoms and their predictors in youth from one region of Rwanda who function as heads of household (ie, those responsible for caring for other children) and care for younger orphans.

Design: Cross-sectional survey

Setting: Four adjoining districts in Gigonkoro, an impoverished rural province in southwestern Rwanda.

Participants: Trained interviewers met with the eldest member of each household (n = 539) in which a youth 24 years old or younger was caring for 1 child or more.

Targeting school tobacco policy: lessons from the Acadiana Coalition of Teens Against Tobacco (ACTT).

This case study examines the comparative effect of no-use school tobacco policies and restricted-use tobacco policies on teacher and student smoking behaviors and attitudes. Data from teachers (n = 1,041) and ninth-grade students (n = 4,763) at 20 schools in five districts in southern Louisiana were available. No significant difference was observed between teacher smoking (11% vs.

Cumulative experiences of violence among high-risk urban youth.

This study examines type-specific and cumulative experiences of violence among a vulnerable population of youth. Sixty high-risk, shelter-dwelling, urban youth were interviewed regarding their history of childhood maltreatment, exposure to community violence (ECV), and experience with intimate partner violence (IPV). Results show a high prevalence and high degree of overlap among multiple types of violence exposure.

Barriers to the community support of orphans and vulnerable youth in Rwanda.

A consistent theme in the literature on interventions for orphans and vulnerable children is the need for community-based care. However, a number of socio-cultural factors may impede community response. In this study, mixed methods are used to elucidate community-level barriers to care for orphans and vulnerable youth in Rwanda.

The early promotion and intervention research consortium (E-PIRC): Five approaches to improving infant/toddler mental health in Early Head Start.

One planned consequence of the national Infant Mental Health Forum held in the United States in 2000 was the funding of five research projects conducted in Early Head Start (EHS) programs. Each project strengthened existing programs by integrating infant/toddler mental health approaches and testing the outcomes on infant/toddler development, behavior, and parent-child interactions. In two of the projects, the effect of offering enrichment for EHS staff was tested.

Risk for maternal depression and child aggression in Early Head Start families: A test of ecological models.

Current literature indicates that risk for maternal depression is substantial in low-income families. A large body of research also indicates that when mothers are depressed, children are at risk for a number of developmental difficulties. While mutual influence between child and parental difficulties has been noted, few studies examine risk factors for both depression and child aggression within ecological models.

Infants and young children living in youth-headed households in Rwanda: Implications of emerging data.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has already produced millions of orphans in Africa and the peak of the orphan epidemic has not yet been reached. One emerging social trend associated with premature parental death is the formation of households headed by youth aged 13-24. In Rwanda, specific sociocultural factors have supported the formation of youth-headed households (YHH) in the wake of both the 1994 genocide and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Psychosocial predictors of being an underweight infant differ by racial group: a prospective study of Louisiana WIC program participants.

Objectives: In order to prospectively identify psychosocial predictors of infants being underweight, we followed 3,302 low-income infants. These infants received well-baby care in health departments and were enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Supplemental Food Program from the newborn period to 12 months of age.

Methods: We linked risk factor data collected from newborn medical history records to anthropometric data from a WIC database.