The construct of emotional availability (EA) refers to the capacity of a dyad to share an emotional connection and to enjoy a mutually fulfilling and healthy relationship. The EA Scales were designed to assess multiple components of a relationship from the perspective of both partners. The four caregiver components include sensitivity, structuring, nonintrusiveness, and nonhostility; two scales measure the child's responsiveness to the caregiver and involvement of the caregiver. We describe the EA construct and introduce the papers in this issue, focusing on the contributions of this Special Section to a developmental psychopathology framework.

This study examined the links between mothers' frontal EEG asymmetry at rest and during videos of their 5- to 8-month-old infants expressing three emotion states (joy, anger/distress, and neutral interest), mother–infant emotional availability (EA) in the home, mothers' depressive and anxious symptoms, and mothers' emotional experience in response to infant emotion cues. Greater relative right frontal activity at rest was associated with greater maternal anxiety, but was unrelated to EA or mother-reported emotional experience in response to infant emotion cues. A shift toward greater relative right frontal activation in response to infant emotional stimuli was associated with lower maternal anxiety, greater mother–infant EA, and mothers' experience of sadness, concern, irritability, and the absence of joy in response to seeing their own infant in distress. These findings suggest that mothers' in the moment empathetic responding to their infant's emotions, indexed by a shift in frontal EEG asymmetry in response to infant emotional displays, is related to mother–infant EA in the home. Implications for conceptualizing parenting risk are discussed.

According to data from the 1997 NICHD Study of Child Care, center-based child care can have deleterious effects on children's social–emotional development. We hypothesized that training child care professionals to develop positive relationships with children in their care would improve the quality of center-based child care. Thirty-three professional caregiver–child pairs participated in the intervention group and 24 professional caregiver–child pairs were assigned to a care as usual comparison group. The intervention consisted of an informational and a practice component with an emotional availability (EA) coach. The infants and toddlers (ages 11 to 23 months) in the classrooms were enrolled in the project only if they spent at least 20 hr per week in center-based care. The measures included were (a) the EA Scales, (b) the Attachment Q-Sort, and (c) the Classroom Interaction Scale. The intervention group professional caregiver–child relationships showed improvements on the EA Scales, Attachment Q-Sort, and the Classroom Interaction Scale from pre- to posttest, compared to the comparison group, who showed some decrements over a comparable period of time.

Children adopted from institutions (e.g., orphanages) overseas are at increased risk of disturbances in social relationships and social understanding. Not all postinstitutionalized children exhibit these problems, although factors like the severity of deprivation and duration of deprivation increase their risk. To date, few studies have examined whether postadoption parenting might moderate the impact of early adverse care. Three groups were studied: postinstitutionalized and foster care children both adopted internationally and nonadopted children reared in their families of origin. The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales were assessed at 18 months in parent–child dyads. Parent emotional availability was found to predict two aspects of social functioning shown in previous studies to be impaired in postinstitutionalized children. Specifically, EA positively correlated with emotion understanding at 36 months; in interaction with initiation of joint attention at 18 months and group, it predicted indiscriminate friendliness as scored from a parent attachment interview at 30 months. Among the postinstitutionalized children but not among the children in other groups, higher EA scores reduced the negative association between initiation of joint attention and indiscriminate friendliness, thus suggesting that parenting quality may moderate the effects of early institutional deprivation.

In a short-term longitudinal design we investigated maternal sensitivity, child responsiveness, attachment, and indiscriminate friendliness in families with children internationally adopted from institutions or foster care in China. Ninety-two families with 50 postinstitutionalized and 42 formerly fostered girls, aged 11–16 months on arrival, were studied 2 and 6 months after adoption. Maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness were observed with the Emotional Availability Scales, attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure, and mothers reported on children's indiscriminate friendliness. The postinstitutionalized children showed less secure attachment, whereas the former foster children did not differ from the normative distribution of attachment security. However, at both assessments the two groups of adopted children showed more disorganized attachments compared to normative data. Adoptive mothers of postinstitutionalized and former foster children were equally sensitive and their sensitivity did not change over time. Postinstitutionalized and former foster children did not differ on indiscriminate friendliness, but children with more sensitive adoptive mothers showed less indiscriminate friendliness. The former foster children showed a larger increase in responsiveness over time than the postinstitutionalized children, suggesting that children's responsiveness is more sensitive to change than attachment, and that preadoption foster care is more beneficial for the development of children's responsiveness after adoptive placement than preadoption institutional care.

In this investigation we examined the developmental correlates and predictors of maternal emotional availability in interactions with their 7-year-old children among a sample of families at psychosocial risk. We found developmental coherence in maternal interactive behavior, and in the relations between maternal emotional availability and children's functioning in middle childhood. Mothers and children were observed at home and in a laboratory playroom in infancy to assess maternal interactive behavior and child attachment security. When children were 7 years of age, dyads were observed in the lab; maternal emotional availability was coded using the Emotional Availability Scales, and children's disorganized and controlling attachment behavior was assessed. Classroom teachers reported on children's behavior problems; at age 8, children reported on their depressive symptoms. Results showed that aspects of maternal emotional availability (sensitivity, nonhostility, nonintrusiveness [passive/withdrawn behavior]) were associated with children's functioning in middle childhood: (a) controlling and disorganized attachment behavior, (b) behavior problems in school, and (c) self-reported depressive symptoms. Maternal emotional availability in childhood was predicted by early mother–infant relationship dysfunction (maternal hostility, disrupted communication, and infant attachment insecurity).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mothers' physical abusiveness on the quality of the mother–child relationship, and note how it further varied by their exposure to interparental violence (IPV). The sample consisted of 232 clinic-referred children, aged 2 to 7 years, and their biological mothers. Slightly more than a quarter of the children (N = 63, 27.2%) had been physically abused by their mothers; approximately half of these children also had a history of exposure to IPV (N = 34, 54%). Investigating effects of physical abuse in the context of IPV history on mothers' and children's emotional availability, we found that physically abused children with no IPV exposure appeared less optimally emotionally available than physically abused children with an IPV exposure. However, subsequent analyses showed that although dyads with dual-violence exposure showed emotional availability levels similar those of nonabusive dyads, they were more overresponsive and overinvolving, a kind of caregiving controllingness charasteric of children with disorganized attachment styles. These findings lend some support to the notion that the effects of abuse on the parent–child relationship are influenced by the context of family violence, although the effects appear to be complex.

The present research examined how family psychosocial risk may be associated with emotional availability (EA) across age and time in two longitudinal, intergenerational studies with high-risk, disadvantaged mother–child dyads. Study 1 examined dyads during preschool and middle childhood. Study 2 examined a different sample of dyads, tested intensively at five time points (6, 12, and 18 months; preschool; and school age). Across studies, maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal predicted negative EA (higher levels of maternal hostility) during mother–child interactions at preschool age. In Study 1, mothers with higher levels of social withdrawal during childhood had preschoolers who were less appropriately responsive to and involving of their mothers during interactions. In Study 2, higher levels of observed appropriate maternal structuring predicted child responsiveness while observed maternal sensitivity (and structuring) predicted observed child involvement. More maternal social support and better home environment combined with lower stress predicted better mother–child relationship quality. Findings contribute to the burgeoning literature on EA by focusing on a high-risk community sample across time and generations. Results are interpreted in light of the developmental psychopathology framework, and have implications for a broader understanding of how EA is related to parental history and personal characteristics, as well as ongoing family and environmental context.

Studies using the Emotional Availability Scales have burgeoned in the past decade. The collection of papers included in this Special Section represents the latest innovations in research with this paradigm. Consistent with a developmental psychopathology perspective, these papers evaluate emotional availability in a variety of typical, at-risk, international, and intergenerational samples of children and caregivers, with many utilizing longitudinal designs or employing measures from multiple levels of analysis. One study begins to translate findings from this body of research into a promising intervention program. Although further growth and refinement in research with this paradigm is needed, the results to date begin to place the construct of emotional availability into a complex, dynamic biopsychosocial context, and promise to inspire a new generation of studies. In this commentary, some of the key contributions and challenges of this collection of studies are highlighted using a developmental psychopathology framework.

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.

Based on attachment theory, the construct of emotional availability and its assessment goes beyond attachment in important ways. Its origins in clinical experience and emotions research are discussed as well as the prospects for continuing advances in knowledge stimulated by the contributions in the Special Section. This is especially so in terms of developmental variations and the biological underpinnings of emotional availability. A major need and opportunity also exists concerning research related to psychopathology, clinical interventions, and training.

The commentary opens by highlighting the contribution of the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) in providing developmental researchers with a clinically sensitive and reliable assessment of the emotional quality of caregiver–child interactions that takes into consideration their coregulated nature. The numerous studies that have used the EAS attest to their usefulness and to the way they balance complexity and attention to emotional nuances with clarity. Several issues with regard to the EAS are discussed subsequently. First, I propose that looking at patterns of the EA scales might be a way to capture the quality of each dyad's emotional dialogue. Second, I suggest that the description of attachment research as concerned almost exclusively with the regulation of distress is inaccurate, in light of Ainsworth's broad assessment of naturalistic home observations. Third, I raise the possibility that additional specialized coding systems beyond the EAS may be needed for predicting certain specific psychopathological outcomes (e.g., disorganized attachment). Fourth, I propose that it is important to explore cross-culturally the meaning of the behaviors on which the EAS focus, rather than assume cross-cultural equivalence. Fifth and finally, I point out the importance of placing the EAS in the context of the existing literature on early intervention and treatment.

We appreciate both the opportunity to co-edit this Special Section of Development and Psychopathology and the thoughtful commentaries provided by Marjorie Beeghly, Marc Bornstein, Robert Emde, and David Oppenheim. Their commentaries review historical perspectives, provide new insights, and suggest future horizons for the study of emotional availability (EA) within a developmental psychopathology framework. Along with the collection of empirical studies in this Special Section, they begin to chart a course for further growth and integration of EA into the field of developmental psychopathology. Taking stock of the research on EA, we realize that there is now a sufficient corpus to suggest that research focusing on this construct, as operationalized by the EA Scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998) is entering a more mature phase of inquiry. In the last 14 years, research on EA, including several special journal issues on the topic (see Biringen & Easterbrooks, 2008; Easterbrooks & Biringen, 2000, 2005, 2009), has explored the methodological concerns, reliability, and validity of the EA Scales and application across different samples and ages. This “critical mass” of knowledge (more than 100 peer-reviewed publications) supports the current focus on asking incisive questions for the field of developmental psychopathology (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995, 2009).

Previous studies with nonhuman species have shown that animals exposed to early adversity show differential DNA methylation relative to comparison animals. The current study examined differential methylation among 14 children raised since birth in institutional care and 14 comparison children raised by their biological parents. Blood samples were taken from children in middle childhood. Analysis of whole-genome methylation patterns was performed using the Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChip assay (Illumina), which contains 27,578 CpG sites, covering approximately 14,000 gene promoters. Group differences were registered, which were characterized primarily by greater methylation in the institutionalized group relative to the comparison group, with most of these differences in genes involved in the control of immune response and cellular signaling systems, including a number of crucial players important for neural communication and brain development and functioning. The findings suggest that patterns of differential methylation seen in nonhuman species with altered maternal care are also characteristic of children who experience early maternal separation.

The short allele of the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) moderates the effects of stress on vulnerability to mood and anxiety disorders. The mechanism by which this occurs may relate to differential sensitivity to stressful life events. Here we explored whether 5-HTTLPR and sex affected behavioral responses to repeated maternal separation in infant rhesus macaques. Behaviors were collected during the acute (Day 1) and the chronic (Days 2–4) phases of the separation, and the effects of duration of separation (acute vs. chronic), genotype (long/long vs. short allele), and sex (male vs. female) on behavioral responses were analyzed across four successive separations. Males increased their levels of locomotion with repeated maternal separation, whereas females exhibited an increase in frequency of self-directed behavior, a measure of “depression-like” behavior. The short-allele predicted increased environmental exploration, particularly during the chronic phase of social separation, indicative of higher arousal. In addition, the short-allele carriers were more likely to increase their levels of self-directed behavior during the chronic phase of separation, as a function of repeated exposures. These findings suggest that the short allele may increase reactivity to repeated, chronic stressors, leaving them more vulnerable to affective psychopathology, with females particularly vulnerable.

The current study examines the interplay between parental overreactivity and children's genetic backgrounds as inferred from birth parent characteristics on the development of negative emotionality during infancy, and in turn, to individual differences in externalizing problems in toddlerhood. The sample included 361 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Data were collected when the children were 9, 18, and 27 months old. Results indicated links between individual levels and changes in negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood to externalizing problems early in the third year of life. Findings also revealed an interaction between birth mother negative affect and adoptive mother overreactive parenting on children's negative emotionality. This Genotype × Environment interaction predicted externalizing problems indirectly through its association with negative emotionality and revealed stronger effects of genetic risk for children with less overreactive parenting from their mothers. Limitations of this study and directions for future research are discussed.

Childhood neglect has been cited as a risk factor for later substance abuse and criminal behavior. However, a large body of literature shows that a substantial percentage of neglected and abused individuals do not go on to abuse substances or engage in criminal behavior. The current study investigates whether a genetic variant (serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region [5-HTTLPR]) in the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HTT) gene moderates the effect of childhood neglect on alcohol use problems, marijuana use, and criminal behavior. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health shows that 5-HTTLPR conditions the effect of neglect on marijuana use for females, but not for males. Findings also reveal a significant gene–environment correlation between 5-HTTLPR and neglect for females only. These results suggest that 5-HTTLPR is associated with an increased risk of neglect for females, and it also increases neglected females’ risk of abusing marijuana.

Vibrant expression of emotion is the principal means infants and young children use to elicit appropriate and timely caregiving, stimulation, and support. This study examined the depression–inhibition hypothesis: that declines in mothers' support as their depressive symptoms increase inhibit children's emotional communication. Ninety-four mothers and their 14- to 27-month-olds interacted in a university playroom. Based on microanalytic coding of discrete facial displays, results supported three components of the hypothesis. (a) As mothers' depressive symptoms increased, children displayed less facial emotion (more flat affect, less joy, less sadness, less negative). (b) Mothers' low emotional and behavioral support predicted children's low facial communication and mediated relations between mothers' depressive symptoms and children's infrequent emotion. (c) Children who were passive with mothers behaviorally expressed emotion infrequently. Children's passivity mediated relations between mothers' depressive symptoms and children's infrequent emotion displays. Contrary to modeling and contagion theories, mothers' facial displays did not mediate relations between their depressive symptoms and children's facial displays. Nor were the outcomes children experienced regulating their facial displays. Rather, findings suggest that, even when depressive symptoms are modest, young children inhibit emotion as mothers' depressive symptoms increase to withdraw from unresponsive mothers, which may adversely affect children's subsequent relationships and competencies.

The study examined the interaction between early maturational timing (measured by premature adrenarche [PA]) and executive functioning and cortisol reactivity on symptoms of psychopathology. The study included 76 girls aged 6 through 8 years (mean = 7.50, SD = 0.85) with PA (n = 40) and on-time adrenarche (n = 36). Girls completed a battery of psychological and neuropsychological tests and blood sampling for cortisol. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist. The results demonstrated that girls with PA with lower levels of executive functioning had higher externalizing and anxious symptoms compared to other girls. In addition, girls with PA who demonstrated increases in serum cortisol had higher externalizing symptoms than those with stable patterns. Finally, girls with PA who demonstrated decreases in cortisol reported higher depressive symptoms. The findings from this study provide important information concerning the impact of cognitive functioning and stress reactivity on adjustment to early maturation in girls with PA. The results of this research may inform screening and intervention efforts for girls who may be at greatest risk for emotional and behavioral problems as a result of early maturation.