Citation

Valentino K. Child Dev. 2017; 88(2): 359-367.

Affiliation

University of Notre Dame.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cdev.12735

PMID

28138967

Abstract

Child maltreatment may be best characterized as a pathogenic relational experience which primarily occurs in the mother-child relationship. As such, enhancing the mother-child relationship is the key process that should be targeted in intervention approaches for child maltreatment. Two salient and modifiable components of the mother-child relationship are highlighted: maternal sensitivity and attachment organization. It is argued, from a developmental psychopathology perspective, why focusing on these issues hold the most promise for interrupting negative developmental cascades and promoting resilience among maltreated children. Utilization of a tiered approach to delivering increasingly intensive relational interventions is recommended as are future directions for translational research and dissemination.

© 2017 The Author Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language: en