Parenting and Child Development : Issues and Answers

A unique collection of research papers which focus on improving the quality of maternal-infant interaction and child developmental outcomes among high-risk populations. Demonstrates the efficacy and importance of related interventions.

In recent years, parenting research has demonstrated that toxic stressors such as intimate partner violence, postpartum depression, and substance abuse significantly diminish the quality of mother-child interaction. Moreover, research has shown that childhood is a sensitive period, during which cumulative exposure to adversities inhibits relationship quality, mother-child interaction and subsequent child health and developmental outcomes. Researchers have focused upon identifying populations at risk and interventions to improve related outcomes. Parenting and Child Development: Issues and Answers encompasses a collection of seminal studies by renowned researcher Dr Nicole Letourneau. The book starts with an examination of the mechanisms by which parent-child interaction and child developmental outcomes are diminished among high-risk families. Promising results of peer support and reflective functioning interventions to promote parent-child interaction and healthy child development are then presented. Finally, the book includes studies that investigate the relationship between genetics, parent-child relationships and child behaviour.