Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T20:30:08.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emotional relationships between mothers and infants: Knowns, unknowns, and unknown unknowns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Marc H. Bornstein ,
Joan T. D. Suwalsky  and
Dana A. Breakstone
Marc H. Bornstein*
Affiliation:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Joan T. D. Suwalsky
Affiliation:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dana A. Breakstone
Affiliation:
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Marc H. Bornstein, Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Suite 8030, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-7971; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An overview of the literature pertaining to the construct of emotional availability is presented, illustrated by a sampling of relevant studies. Methodological, statistical, and conceptual problems in the existing corpus of research are discussed, and suggestions for improving future investigations of this important construct are offered.

Type
Special Section Commentaries
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 113 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aviezer, O., Sagi, A., Joels, T., & Ziv, Y. (1999). Emotional availability and attachment representations in Kibbutz infants and their mothers. Developmental Psychology, 35, 811–821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnard, K. E., & Solchany, J. E. (2002). Mothering. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3. Status and social conditions of parenting (2nd ed., pp. 3–25). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Barratt, M. S., & Roach, M. A. (1995). Early interactive processes: Parenting by adolescent and adult single mothers. Infant Behavior and Development, 18, 97–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berlin, L. J., Brady-Smith, C., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2002). Links between childbearing age and observed maternal behaviors with 14-month-olds in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23, 104–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biringen, Z. (2000). Emotional availability: Conceptualization and research findings. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 104–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z. (2005). Training and reliability issues with the Emotional Availability Scales. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 404–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biringen, Z., Altenhofen, S., Aberle, J., Baker, M., Brosal, A., Bennett, S., et al. (2012). Emotional availability, attachment, and intervention in center-based child care for infants and toddlers. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 23–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., Brown, D., Donaldson, L., Green, S., Krcmarik, S., & Lovas, G. (2000). Adult attachment interview: Linkages with dimensions of emotional availability for mothers and their pre-kindergarteners. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 188–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., Damon, J., Grigg, W., Mone, J., Pipp-Siegel, S., Skillern, S., et al. (2005). Emotional availability: Differential predictions to infant attachment and kindergarten adjustment based on observation time and context. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 295–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., & Easterbrooks, M. A. (2012). Emotional availability: Concept, research, and window on development and psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biringen, Z., Emde, R. N., Campos, J. J., & Appelbaum, M. I. (1995). Affective reorganization in the infant, the mother, and the dyad: The role of upright locomotion and its timing. Child Development, 66, 499–514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., Emde, R. N., Brown, D., Lowe, L., Myers, S., & Nelson, D. (1999). Emotional availability and emotion communication in naturalistic mother–infant interactions: Evidence for gender relations. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 14, 463–478.Google Scholar
Biringen, Z., Fidler, D. J., Barrett, K. C., & Kubicek, L. (2005). Applying the Emotional Availability Scales to children with disabilities. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 369–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., Matheny, A., Bretherton, I., Renouf, A., & Sherman, M. (2000). Maternal representation of the self as parent: Connections with maternal sensitivity and maternal structuring. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 218–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., & Robinson, J. (1991). Emotional availability in mother–child interactions: A reconceptualization for research. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 6, 258–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biringen, Z., Robinson, J. L., & Emde, R. N. (1994). Maternal sensitivity in the second year: Gender-based relations in the dyadic balance of control. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 78–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biringen, Z., Skillern, S., Mone, J., & Pianta, R. (2005). Emotional availability is predictive of the emotional aspects of children's “school readiness.” Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology, 1, 81–97.Google Scholar
Biringen, Z., Vliegen, N., Bijttebier, P., & Cluckers, G. (2002). Werkversie EAS Selfreport—Niet gepubliceerd werkdocument [The Emotional Availability—Dutch Self-Report–pilot version]. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H. (2000). Infancy: Emotions and temperament. In Kazdin, A. E. (Ed.), The encyclopedia of psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 278–284). New York: American Psychological Association and Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H. (2009). Toward a model of culture↔parent↔child transactions. In Sameroff, A. (Ed.), The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other (pp. 139–161). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., & Bornstein, L. (2008). Psychological stability. In Darity, W. A. Jr. (Ed.), International encyclopedia of social sciences (2nd ed., Vol. 8, pp. 74–75). Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Gini, M., Putnick, D. L., Haynes, O. M., Painter, K. M., & Suwalsky, J. T. D. (2006). Short-term reliability and continuity of emotional availability in mother–child dyads across contexts of observation. Infancy, 10, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Gini, M., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Putnick, D. L., & Haynes, O. M. (2006). Emotional availability in mother–child dyads: Short-term stability and continuity from variable-centered and person-centered perspectives. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 52, 547–571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C.-S., & Haynes, O. M. (2011). Maternal personality, parenting cognitions, and parenting practices. Developmental Psychology, 47, 658–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C.-S., Suwalsky, J. T. D., & Haynes, O. M. (2011). Maternal and infant behavior and context associations with mutual emotional availability. Infant Mental Health Journal, 32, 70–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Hendricks, C., Haynes, O. M., & Painter, K. M. (2007). Maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness: Associations with social context, maternal characteristics, and child characteristics in a multivariate analysis. Infancy, 12, 189–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Mayes, L. C., & Park, J. (2011). Language, play, emotional availability, and acceptance in cocaine exposed and non-cocaine exposed young children and their mothers. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., Heslington, M., Gini, M., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Venuti, P., et al. (2008). Mother–child emotional availability in ecological perspective: Three countries, two regions, two genders. Developmental Psychology, 44, 666–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., & Suwalsky, J. T. D. (in press). A longitudinal process analysis of mother–child emotional relationships in a rural Appalachian European American community. American Journal of Community Psychology.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., & Suwalsky, J. T. D. (2011a). Mutual emotional availability in mother–infant and caregiver–infant dyads: Process analyses of interactions in three childcare arrangements. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., & Suwalsky, J. T. D. (2011b). Mutual emotional availability in mother–infant firstborn and secondborn dyads: A within-family study. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., Suwalsky, J. T. D., & Gini, M. (2006). Maternal chronological age, prenatal and perinatal history, social support, and parenting of infants. Child Development, 77, 875–892.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Scrimin, S., Putnick, D. L., Capello, F., de Falco, S., Carli, M., et al. (2011). Neurodevelopmental functioning in very young children undergoing treatment for non-CNS cancers. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Putnick, D. L., Gini, M., Venuti, P., de Falco, S., et al. (2010). Developmental continuity and stability of emotional availability in the family: Two ages and two genders in child–mother dyads from two regions in three countries. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34, 385–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bretherton, I. (2000). Emotional availability: An attachment perspective. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 233–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brim, O. G., Baltes, P. B., Bumpass, L. L., Cleary, P. D., Featherman, D. L., Hazzard, W. R., et al. (1996). National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), 1995–1996 [Computer File] (2nd ICPSR version). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Retrieved from http://sodapop.pop.psu.edu/codebooks/midus/1995-96/02760-0001-Codebook.pdfGoogle Scholar
Burchinal, M. R., & Cryer, D. (2003). Diversity, child care quality, and developmental outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 18, 401–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, J. (2007). Understanding the emotional needs of children who are blind. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 101, 351–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, J., & Johnston, C. (2009). Emotional availability in parent–child dyads where children are blind. Parenting: Science and Practice, 9, 216–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaudhuri, J. H., Easterbrooks, M. A., & Davis, C. R. (2009). The relation between emotional availability and parenting style: Cultural and economic factors in a diverse sample of young mothers. Parenting: Science and Practice, 9, 277–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Pogge-Hesse, P. (1982). Possible contributions of the study of organically retarded persons to developmental theory. In Zigler, E. & Balla, D. (Eds.), Mental retardation: The developmental-difference controversy (pp. 277–318). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2009). The past achievements and future promises of developmental psychopathology: The coming of age of a discipline. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 16–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coley, R. L., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1998). Adolescent pregnancy and parenthood: Recent evidence and future directions. American Psychologist, 53, 152–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cost Quality & Child Outcomes Study Team. (1995). Cost, quality, and child outcomes in child care center, public report (2nd ed.). Denver, CO: University of Colorado at Denver, Economics Department.Google Scholar
Culp, R. E., Appelbaum, M. I., Osofsky, J. D., & Levy, J. A. (1988). Adolescent and older mothers: Comparison between prenatal maternal variables and newborn interaction measures. Infant Behavior and Development, 11, 353–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Culp, A. M., Osofsky, J. D., & O'Brien, M. (1996). Language patterns of adolescent and older mothers and their one-year-old children: A comparison study. First Language, 16, 61–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Falco, S., Cimmino, M., La Femina, F., & Venuti, P. (2008). Qualità della relazione affettiva madre-bambino e abilità di gioco in bambini con sindrome di Down. [Quality of affective mother–child relations and game play ability in children with Down's syndrome.] Infanzia e Adolescenza, 7, 124–137.Google Scholar
de Falco, S., Esposito, G., Venuti, P., & Bornstein, M. H. (2008). Fathers’ play with their Down Syndrome children. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 52, 490–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dolev, S., Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N, & Yirmiya, N. (2009). Emotional availability in mother–child interaction: The case of children with autism spectrum disorders. Parenting: Science and Practice, 9, 183–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., Biesecker, G., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2000). Infancy predictors of emotional availability in middle childhood: The roles of attachment security and maternal depressive symptomatology. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 170–187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Easterbrooks, M. A., Biesecker, G., Lyons-Ruth, K., & Carper, A. (1996, April). Infancy predictors of emotional availability in middle childhood: The role of attachment and maternal depression. Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies, Providence, RI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., & Biringen, Z. (2000). Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue: Mapping the terrain of emotional availability and attachment. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 123–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., & Biringen, Z. (2005a). The Emotional Availability Scales: Methodological refinements of the construct and clinical implications related to gender and at-risk interactions. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 291–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Easterbrooks, M. A., & Biringen, Z. (Eds.). (2005b). Emotional availability: Extending the assessment of emotional availability to include gender, culture, and at-risk populations. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 291–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., Bureau, J.-F., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2012). Developmental coherence in predictors and correlates of emotional availability in mother–child interaction: A longitudinal study from infancy to late adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 65–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., Chaudhuri, J., & Gestsdottir, S. (2005). Patterns of emotional availability among young mothers and their infants: A dyadic, contextual analysis. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 309–326.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emde, R. (1980). Emotional availability: A reciprocal reward system for infants and parents with implications for prevention of psychosocial disorders. In Taylor, P. M. (Ed.), Parent–infant relationships (pp. 87–115). Orlando, FL: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
Emde, R. N. (2000). Next steps in emotional availability research. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 242–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emde, R. N., & Easterbrooks, M. A. (1985). Assessing emotional availability in early development. In Frankenburg, W. K., Emde, R. N., & Sullivan, J. W. (Eds.), Early identification of children at risk: An international perspective (pp. 79–102). New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Esposito, G., Venuti, P., de Falco, S., & Bornstein, M. H. (2009). Maternal emotional availability and infant smiling and crying at 5 months of age. In Krause, P. H. & Dailey, T. M. (Eds.), Handbook of parenting: Styles, stresses, and strategies (pp. 30–46). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Field, T. (1981). Infant arousal, attention, and affect during early interactions. In Lipsitt, L. & Rovee-Collier, C. K. (Eds.), Advances in infancy research (Vol. 1, pp. 58–100). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Field, T., Vega-Lahr, N., Scafidi, F., & Goldstein, S. (1986). Effects of maternal unavailability on mother–infant interactions. Infant Behavior and Development, 9, 473–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankel, K. A., Lindahl, K., & Harmon, R. J. (1992). Preschoolers’ response to maternal sadness: Relationships with maternal depression and emotional availability. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13, 132–146.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, J. G., Harris-Britt, A., Thakkallapalli, E. L., Kurtz-Costes, B., & Martin, S. (2010). Emotional availability and psychosocial correlates among mothers in substance-abuse treatment and their young infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 31, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garvin, M. C., Tarullo, A. R., Van Ryzin, M., & Gunnar, M. R. (2012). Post-adoption parenting and socioemotional development in post-institutionalized children. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 35–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartmann, D. P., Pelzel, K. E., & Abbott, C. B. (2011). Design, measurement, and analysis in developmental research. In Bornstein, M. H. & Lamb, M. E. (Eds.), Developmental science: An advanced textbook (6th ed., pp. 109–195). New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Howes, C., & Obregon, N. B. (2009). Emotional availability in Mexican-heritage low-income mothers and children: Infancy through preschool. Parenting: Science and Practice, 9, 260–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killeen, L. A., & Teti, D. M. (2012). Prefrontal cortical asymmetry in mothers to infant emotional states predicts maternal emotional availability with their 6-month-old infants. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 9–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koester, L. S., Brooks, L. R., & Traci, M. A. (1996, April). Mutual responsiveness in deaf and hearing mother–infant dyads. Poster presented at the meetings of the International Conference of Infant studies, Providence, RI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kogan, N., & Carter, A. S. (1996). Mother–infant reengagement following the stillface: The role of maternal emotional availability in infant affect regulation. Infant Behavior and Development, 19, 359–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koren-Karie, N., Oppenheim, D., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2009). Mothers of securely attached children with autism spectrum disorder are more sensitive than mothers of insecurely attached children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 643–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovas, G. S. (2005). Gender and patterns of emotional availability in mother–toddler and father–toddler dyads. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 327–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luster, T., & Dubow, E. (1990). Home environment and maternal intelligence as predictors of verbal intelligence: A comparison of preschool and school-age children. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 38, 151–175.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.) & Hetherington, E. M. (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1–101). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Magnusson, D., & Allen, V. L. (1983). Implications and applications of an interactional perspective for human development. In Magnusson, D. & Allen, V. L. (Eds.), Human development: An interactional perspective (pp. 469–387). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Martin, S. E., Clements, M. L., & Crnic, K. A. (2002). Maternal emotions during mother–toddler interaction: Parenting in an affective context. Parenting: Science and Practice, 2, 105–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCall, R. B. (1981). Nature–nurture and the two realms of development: A proposed integration with respect to mental development. Child Development, 52, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, K. A., Morrison, D. R., & Greene, A. D. (1997). Effects on the children born to adolescent mothers. In Maynard, R. A. (Ed.), Kids having kids: Economic costs and social consequences of teen pregnancy (pp. 145–180). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.Google Scholar
Moore, M. R., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2002). Adolescent parenthood. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3. Status and social conditions of parenting (2nd ed., pp. 173–214). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, National Institute of Health. (2006). The NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development: Findings for children up to age 4 1/2 Years (NIH Publication No. 05-4318). Research Triangle Park, NC: United States Department of Health and Human Services, NICHD.Google Scholar
Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2009). Maternal insightfulness and resolution of the diagnosis are associated with secure attachment in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders. Child Development, 80, 519–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osofsky, H. J., & Osofsky, J. D. (1970). The adolescent mother: Factors related to their children's development. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 40, 825–834.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oyen, A.-S., Landy, S., & Hilburn-Cobb, C. (2000). Maternal attachment and sensitivity in an at-risk sample. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 203–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1989). Family interaction patterns and children's behavior problems from infancy to 4 years. Developmental Psychology, 25, 413–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pianta, R. C., Smith, N., & Reeve, R. E. (1991). Observing mother and child behavior in a problem-solving situation at school entry: Relations with classroom adjustment. School Psychology Quarterly, 6, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pipp-Siegel, S., & Biringen, Z. (1998). Assessing the quality of relationships between parents and children: The Emotional Availability Scales. Volta Review, 100, 237–249.Google Scholar
Pipp-Siegel, S., Blair, N. L., Deas, A. M., Pressman, L. J., & Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (1998). Touch and emotional availability in hearing and deaf or hard of hearing toddlers and their hearing mothers. Volta Review, 100, 279–298.Google Scholar
Pomerleau, A., Scuccimarri, C., & Malcuit, G. (2003). Mother–infant behavioral interactions in teenage and adult mothers during the first six months postpartum: Relations with infant development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 24, 495–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pressman, L., Pipp-Siegel, S., Yoshinaga-Itano, C., & Deas, A. M. (1999). Maternal sensitivity predicts language gain in preschool children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 4, 294–304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pressman, L. J., Pipp-Siegel, S., Yoshinaga-Itano, C., Kubicek, L., & Emde, R. N. (1998). A comparison of the links between emotional availability and language gain in young children with and without hearing loss. Volta Review, 100, 251–277.Google Scholar
Robinson, J. L., & Biringen, Z. (1995). Gender and emerging autonomy in development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 15, 60–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J. L., & Little, C. (1994). Emotional availability in mother–twin dyads: Effects on the organization of relationships. Psychiatry, 57, 22–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, J. L., Little, C., & Biringen, Z. (1993). Emotional communication in mother–toddler relationships: Evidence for early gender differentiation. Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 39, 496–517.Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L., Pan, B. A., & Ayoub, C. (2005). Predictors of variation in maternal talk to children: A longitudinal study of low-income families. Parenting: Science and Practice, 5, 285–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sagi, A., Koren-Karie, N., Gini, M., Ziv, Y., & Joels, T. (2002). Shedding further light on the effects of various types and quality of early child care on infant–mother attachment relationship: The Haifa Study of Early Child Care. Child Development, 73, 1166–1186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sagi, A., Tirosh, E., Ziv, Y., Guttman, S., & Lavie, P. (1998, April). Attachment and sleep patterns in the first year of life. Paper presented at the Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies, Atlanta, GA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sameroff, A. J., & Emde, R. N. (Eds.). (1989). Relationship disturbances in early childhood: A developmental approach. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Sander, L. (2000). Where are we going in the field of infant mental health? Infant Mental Health Journal, 21, 1–18.3.0.CO;2-S>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorce, J., & Emde, R. N. (1981). Mother's presence is not enough: Effect of emotional availability on infant exploration. Developmental Psychology, 17, 737–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorce, J. F, Emde, R. N., Campos, J. J., & Klinnert, M. D. (1985). Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of one-year-olds. Developmental Psychology, 21, 195–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1996). Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stack, D. A., Serbin, L. A., Girouard, N., Enns, L. N., Bentley, V. M. N., Schwartzman, A. E., et al. (2012). The quality of the mother–child relationship in high-risk dyads: An intergenerational, longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 93–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, D. N. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant: A view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Swanson, K., Beckwith, L., & Howard, J. (2000). Intrusive caregiving and quality of attachment in prenatally drug-exposed toddlers and their primary caregivers. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 130–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trevarthen, C., & Aitken, K. J. (2001). Infant intersubjectivity: Research, theory and clinical applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42, 3–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van den Dries, L., Juffer, F., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Alink, L. R. A. (2012). Infants’ responsiveness, attachment, and indiscriminate friendliness after international adoption from institutions or foster care in China: Application of the emotional availability scales to adoptive families. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 49–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Egeren, L. A., Barratt, M. S., & Roach, M. A. (2001). Mother–infant responsiveness: Timing, mutual regulation, and interactional context. Developmental Psychology, 37, 684–697.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Venuti, P., de Falco, S., Giusti, Z., & Bornstein, M. H. (2008). Play and emotional availability in young children with Down syndrome. Infant Mental Health Journal, 29, 133–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Venuti, P., Giusti, Z., Gini, M., & Bornstein, M. H. (2008). La disponibilità emotiva madre-gemelli in bambini italiani nel secondo anno di vita [Emotional availability in mothers and twins in the second year of life]. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 12, 41–67.Google Scholar
Vliegen, N., Bijttebier, P., Boulpaep, N., Luyten, P.M., Cluckers, G., & Biringen, Z. (2005). De EA-DSR. Een zelfrapporteringsschaal voor het meten van emotionele beschikbaarheid bij ouders van jonge kinderen (0–1 jaar). [The EA-DSR. A parental self report scale measuring emotional availability in interaction with infants (0–1 year)]. Jaargang, 8, 137–147.Google Scholar
Volling, B. L., McElwain, N. L., Notaro, P. C., & Herrera, C. (2002). Parents’ emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent–infant attachment and emerging self-regulation. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 447–465.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberg, M. K., & Tronick, E. Z. (1996). Infant affective reactions to the resumption of maternal interaction after the still-face. Child Development, 67, 905–914.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiefel, A., Wollenweber, S., Oepen, G., Lenz, K., Lehmkuhl, U., & Biringen, Z. (2005). Emotional availability in infant psychiatry. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 392–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wohlwill, J. (1973). The study of behavioral development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, L., & Fassler, I. (2003). The dynamics of emotional availability in childcare: How infants involve and respond to their teen mothers and childcare teachers. Infants & Young Children, 16, 258–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, L., & McDonald, L. (1995). Emotional availability in infants’ relationships with multiple caregivers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, 147–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ziv, Y., Aviezer, O., Gini, M., Sagi, A., & Koren-Karie, N. (2000). Emotional availability in the mother–infant dyad as related to the quality of infant–mother attachment relationship. Attachment & Human Development, 2, 149–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, Y., Gini, M., Guttman, S., & Sagi, A. (1997, April). Dyadic emotional availability and quality of infant–mother attachment: A three point longitudinal study. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Ziv, Y, Sagi, A., Gini, M., Karie-Koren, N., & Joels, T. (1996, April). Emotional availability as related to quality of infant-mother attachment. Paper presented at the 10th Biennial Meeting of the International Conference on Infant Studies, Providence, RI.Google Scholar