Infants engage with their world through a complex system of relationships, a reality that becomes especially salient in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where infants encounter numerous healthcare professionals. Secure connections between infants and caregivers are critical to psychological, emotional, and physical development, yet little research has examined how infants experience their relationships with healthcare professionals in NICU. This qualitative phenomenological study, conducted in an Australian NICU, explored the infant's experience of connection and relationship-building with their healthcare professionals. Term-born infants, their parents, and members of their healthcare teams were purposively sampled. Data were generated through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, providing rich insight into the infant's relational world. Thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) the complexity of infant-clinician relational dynamics; (2) the infant within the relational space; and (3) barriers and challenges within the infant-clinician relationship. Findings highlight the complexity and fragility of infant-clinician relationships, which were frequently centred on physical survival, sometimes limiting attention to the infant's emotional safety and early relational health. These results highlight the importance of recognising infants as relational beings and calls for neonatal practice to prioritise developmentally supportive and emotionally attuned caregiving.

Early cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) may have enduring effects on the parent‐child emotional connection and a child's capacity for regulation. This study explored emotional availability in parent‐child interaction following early cardiac surgery in relation to emotional and behavioral regulation in children and identified early predictors. Participants were 23 preschool‐aged children with CHD and their parents from a longitudinal cohort assessed at infancy (post‐surgery) and preschool age in Australia. Dyadic interaction was assessed using the Emotional Availability Scales (EA), and parents reported on child's emotional and behavioral regulation. Predictors included infant social‐emotional functioning, parental attachment feelings and traumatic stress, hospitalization length, timing of diagnosis and duration of contact at birth. Over 50% of dyads demonstrated emotional availability, however 30% were classified as complicated and 12% detached. Greater parental sensitivity was associated with less externalizing behavior. Longer hospitalization was associated with lower child involvement and greater parental intrusiveness. Contact at birth was associated with greater emotional availability and more optimal parental structuring at preschool. Findings highlight the enduring impact of early medical adversity on emotional availability in CHD and illuminate effects on both child and parent. Future research should explore targeted interventions that buffer relational disruptions in medically vulnerable dyads.

Expulsion poses a significant barrier to high-quality and inclusive early care and education (ECE), leading to both immediate and long-term negative consequences for children and their families. This descriptive, exploratory study examined whether ECE providers' knowledge of child development, burnout, and organizational climate was associated with their attitudes and perceptions related to expulsion risk. A total of 309 ECE providers in one state in the Southeastern region of the United States taking part in a program evaluation completed an online survey prior to program implementation. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to assess associations among providers' knowledge of child development, burnout, organizational climate, and attitudes related to expulsion risk. Provider burnout was found to be significantly associated with providers' attitudes related to expulsion risk (β =.36, p <.001) despite relatively modest levels of burnout reported by this sample. Organizational climate was significantly associated only with the hopelessness subscale of the expulsion risk measure used (β = -.21, p =.034). Findings are somewhat consistent with prior research and have implications for the field regarding methods to address ECE provider burnout and organizational climate to mitigate expulsion risk and promote more inclusive ECE environments.

No study has yet examined the convergence between the AMBIANCE-Brief's assessment of disrupted behavior and the full AMBIANCE version and its associations with child attachment and parental sensitivity among parents reported for maltreatment. Based on a sample of 71 parents and their young children receiving child protection or community services in Canada due to maltreatment or elevated risk for maltreatment, this study showed a moderate convergence between scores of the brief and full versions of the AMBIANCE, but the correspondence between the disrupted/non-disrupted classifications was weak. The AMBIANCE-Brief score was significantly associated with two subscales of the full version-affective communication errors and withdrawal. The AMBIANCE-Brief was significantly associated with child attachment. Parents of securely attached children exhibited the lowest levels of disrupted behaviors, while parents of disorganized children showed higher levels of disrupted behaviors than those of secure children. Also, the overall score and dimensions of the AMBIANCE full version were not significantly associated child attachment. Moreover, neither the brief nor the full version significantly correlated with parental sensitivity, suggesting these constructs may be distinct. These findings support the relevance of using the AMBIANCE-Brief with highly vulnerable and maltreating parents.

Infant Mental Health and Early Childhood (IECMH) is a field of study of infants and the developing relationship and the optimal development between infants and their caregivers. Phenomenological research within the well‐being of infants and caregivers has core importance in the comprehension of the subjectivity of the infant and the attachment relationship. We aimed to explore and analyze, in a mapping review, how phenomenology has been used in IECMH research. The mapping review is a rigorous and systematic approach to identify and categorize the quantity of available evidence on a particular topic. We conducted a wide systematic review, including original articles globally and without a time limit. A total of 780 records were identified, and 167 original studies were analyzed inductively with content analysis. The studies present global variation and diverse phenomenological traditions. We identified that mothers and infants are mostly studied, whereas the father and extended family perspectives have remained scarce. Many studies lacked clear grounding in phenomenological philosophy or showed inconsistencies between method and phenomenological principles, underscoring the need for philosophically and methodologically coherent research. Phenomenological insights may deepen and enrich the relationships between professionals, caregivers, and infants.

Young children who receive early intervention (EI) services are at increased likelihood of having experienced trauma, as trauma is most common in the birth‐to‐three age range, especially for children with disabilities. Little is known about EI services for trauma‐impacted children and families. Previous research suggested that EI providers are unprepared to support trauma. Thus, we conducted qualitative interviews with 14 EI providers in one US state to understand the barriers and needs related to trauma‐informed care (TIC). We organized our findings so that each theme is nested in a system from social ecological theory. The six themes included macrosystem (the system is unequipped, lack of role clarity), exosystem (providers need specific training), mesosystem (gatekeeping, family‐provider dynamics), and microsystem (EI providers’ well‐being and comfort). Implications include the need for a top‐down approach to TIC in EI and clarification of the roles of various EI disciplines in implementing TIC.

This study examines the association between the level of maternal behavioral control and toddlers' attachment patterns, focusing on toddlers aged 12-24 months (M=17.18 months, SD=3.31). The sample consisted of 60 Egyptian mother-child dyads. Maternal behavioral control-conceptualized within the framework of Interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory)-was measured using the behavioral control scale, while toddlers' attachment patterns were assessed using Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Results revealed significant differences in maternal behavioral control levels in toddlers with secure and insecure attachment patterns. Specifically, higher levels of maternal behavioral control were associated with insecure-resistant attachment patterns, whereas lower levels of behavioral control were associated with secure attachment patterns. No significant difference emerged between maternal behavioral control levels in toddlers with secure and avoidant attachment patterns. The findings speak to the effects of behavioral control on toddlers' perceptions of danger and, thus, their internal working models of the world and resulting attachment patterns. Study limitations and future directions of research are discussed.

Due to growing awareness of post-traumatic reactions and development of treatments for young children (0-6 years), there is an increasing need for accurate assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If the youngest children cannot manifest PTSD due to still-emerging cognitive emotional abilities, then treatments relying on those abilities may be ineffective. The objective of this review is to systematically review the literature of detailed case reports to provide guidance on the earliest possible age when the developmental capacities needed for the development of PTSD have sufficiently emerged. Literature searches were conducted in PsycInfo and PubMed databases for children who experienced trauma prior to 36 months of age. This review identified 54 cases. Six cases showed potential to fulfill diagnostic criteria of PTSD for children 6 years or younger (PTSD-6Y) if reports were taken at face value. The ages of trauma ranged from 0 to 35 months, with the youngest age of trauma at 15 months. The reports of symptoms, however, often lacked verification by details and examples, placing the potential diagnoses in doubt. Recommendations for further research are offered for more comprehensive and rigorous interviewing techniques to validate possible diagnoses of children with PTSD under 36 months of age.

Black fathers, particularly those who are low‐income, unmarried, and from minoritized communities, face significant barriers to full participation in their children's lives. Prenatal challenges include scheduling conflicts, living arrangements, and relationship dynamics with the child's mother. These factors critically impact early paternal involvement and infant bonding. Despite the importance of father involvement, research on Black fathers' prenatal involvement and infant attachment remains limited. This study examines 75 Black fathers in the United States, investigating how relationship quality and paternal depressive symptoms influence prenatal involvement and early infant attachment. The research seeks to illuminate the complex interpersonal dynamics that shape paternal involvement during pregnancy and infancy, and addresses a crucial gap in understanding Black fatherhood experiences. We found that fathers’ depressive symptoms were negatively associated with the quality of their relationship with the mother of their child (B = −1.398, SE = .524, p = .009, LLCI = −2.443, ULCI = −.353). The findings suggest interparental relationship quality and paternal depressive symptoms are key interpersonal and personal factors that are associated with father involvement in pregnancy and early infant attachment with the baby.

Despite the promise of reflective consultation and the beneficial impacts it may have on enhancing early childhood educator social-emotional well-being and competence, there is limited research on reflective consultation with early childhood educators. The current project, Escúchanos, examined how English-speaking and bilingual Spanish-English early childhood educators (n =16, 6 White, 9 Latina, 1 Asian/Pacific Islander) in the United States experienced reflective consultation at their child care centers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participant's preferred language to provide a better understanding of the perceived benefits and suggested improvements for delivering reflective consultation in early childhood and education settings. Early childhood educators in the study were provided with reflective consultation sessions over 7 months offered by trained mental health consultants in a linguistically responsive manner. Given the cultural and linguistic diversity of the early childhood workforce, this study contributes to the practice of providing culturally and linguistically responsive reflective consultation. Findings from this study suggest that reflective consultation offered early childhood educators with the: space to express feelings; time to take a pause; opportunities to work as a team; and an enhanced awareness of self and others.