G. A. Cook

ACADEMIC OUTCOMES OF VERY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANTS: THE INFLUENCE OF MOTHER–CHILD RELATIONSHIPS

It is commonly accepted that parent-child interactions are bidirectional and complex and are influenced by many different factors. The current study examined the academic and behavioral skills in the early elementary years of preterm infants and the influence of their early mother-child interactions on these skills. Using a sample of 21 premature infants and their mothers, this study found that positive early interactions during feeding were related to later mutual enjoyment during a teaching task at school age, but early maternal depression was not. Early risk factors of premature infants, specifically the number of days spent on a ventilator, were positively related to maternal perceptions of hassle associated with feeding and negatively related to maternal sensitivity during feeding. Finally, mutual enjoyment was strongly associated with language, cognitive, and behavioral skills at school age. These results suggest that it is not only the infant risk factors following a premature birth that influence later development but also the parent-child relationship and emphasize the importance of understanding and promoting these early positive parent-child interactions for premature infants.

Attachment Predicts College Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Skills for Working with Infants, Toddlers, and Families.

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Adults’ attitudes about attachment relationships are central to how they perceive and respond to children. However, little is known about how attachment styles are related to teachers’ attitudes toward and interactions with infants and toddlers. From a survey of 207 students taking early childhood (EC) courses at 4 U.S. universities, we report relations among students’ attachment styles and their (a) career goals, (b) attitudes about caring for and educating infants and young children, and (c) interaction skills for responding in developmentally supportive ways. Overall, attachment security was positively associated with career goals focused on working with younger children, knowledge about infant/toddler development, attitudes that acknowledge the importance of adult support in children’s development, and developmentally supportive interaction skills. Students who scored high on attachment fearfulness minimized the importance of adults in children’s lives, minimized the importance of the early years for later learning, and endorsed strict and controlling forms of child guidance. Practice or Policy: A conceptual mediation model linking a path from attachment to caregiving skill through knowledge and attitudes is articulated. We propose a person-centered pedagogy for infant/toddler professional preparation that provides opportunities for reflection on one’s own attachment and its effects on work with young children.

Preparing home visitors to partner with families of infants and toddlers

ABSTRACT Home visitors provide individualized services to families of infants and young children in their homes. Due to their unique role, home visitors must develop a specialized set of critical competencies—specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes. They therefore require preparation that differs in distinct ways from the preparation typically available to those who will teach young children in classrooms. This article outlines key considerations for higher education programs preparing the home visiting workforce. We present a comprehensive framework of competencies for home visitors and identify empirically supported knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for effectively working with parents who are adult learners from diverse backgrounds, who face their own unique challenges, and who nearly always have strong emotions about their children and their parenting. Using the competencies as a guide, we propose three major recommendations for higher education to ensure adequate preparation for home visitors who serve families with infants and toddlers—(1) interdisciplinary coursework, (2) cross-sector integration of students in child development courses, and (3) multiple home visiting experiences with a range of families.