Parents involved with child protective services (CPS) often face stressors that compromise their parenting; thus, it is critical to identify sources of resilience at multiple ecological levels. This study leveraged cross-sectional data from a study of CPS-involved parent-child dyads (N = 129). Most parents identified as having a minoritized racial/ethnic identity and as having low income. Parent responsive involvement, constructive discipline, and problematic discipline were coded from observations of parent-child interactions when children were approximately 4 years old (M = 4.19 years, SD = .34; 45.7% female). Neighborhood resource availability was assessed using the Childhood Opportunity Index, a publicly available measure of resources in a given census tract. Parental attachment was coded from the Adult Attachment Interview. Greater neighborhood resource availability and secure-autonomous parental attachment were associated with reduced problematic discipline. Additionally, parental attachment moderated the link between neighborhood resource availability and responsive involvement, such that autonomous parents in more resourced neighborhoods demonstrated strengths in positive, warm parenting. These findings highlight the potential of neighborhood resources and secure attachment to strengthen parenting, even in the face of adversity, supporting the resilience of families in marginalized communities.

Ectoparasites are ubiquitous and are often harmful to host fitness. Whereas protective responses to ectoparasitism in vertebrate hosts are well documented, our understanding of such defences in invertebrates remains limited. Here, we examined attachment-resistance in adult Drosophila to their naturally co-occurring ectoparasitic mites, Gamasodes pachysetis (Parasitidae). Significant differences in mite attachment duration were documented among 6 species of Drosophila, providing evidence for interspecific differentiation in attachment-resistance. Experiments with D. malerkotliana, a species exhibiting a relatively high rate of mite detachment, revealed that pre-infesting flies significantly reduced mite attachment duration compared to naïve controls, indicating a priming effect. In contrast, a reduction in attachment duration was not observed in D. malerkotliana after experimentally wounding the abdominal cuticle. These results suggest that the priming effect is not simply a response to cuticle damage, and that its activation may depend on mite-specific factors. Eight genes were individually tested for their effects on the rate of mite detachment from adult flies by deploying the GAL4-UAS gene knockdown system in D. melanogaster. Knockdown of heat shock protein 70Ba (Hsp70Ba) and prophenoloxidase 2 (PPO2), which underlie general stress and melanization responses, respectively, significantly prolonged mite attachment duration, implicating their involvement in host attachment-resistance to mites. Together the results support the existence of inducible protective mechanisms mediating parasitism by mites in a naturally occurring invertebrate host–ectoparasite symbiosis.

Effects of variations in parents’ control styles, especially the amount of power assertion they deploy, have long been a central question in socialization research. Although severe, harsh control is unanimously considered harmful, research on effects of far more common low-to-moderate power assertion is inconsistent. Drawing from attachment and social cognition traditions, we examined whether children’s representations of parents (Internal Working Models, IWMs) moderated associations between parental power assertion and children’s socialization (violating or embracing rules and values, responsiveness to parents). In two studies of community families (Family Study, FS, N = 102, and Children and Parents Study, CAPS, N = 200), employing observations and reports, we assessed parental power assertion at age 4.5, children’s IWMs at ages 8 in FS and 4.5 in CAPS, and socialization outcomes at ages 10 and 12 in FS and 4.5 in CAPS. In FS, children’s IWMs of the parent moderated effects of parental power assertion on socialization outcomes in mother- and father-child dyads (βs = 0.47, 0.41, respectively): Power assertion had detrimental effects only for children with negative IWMs of their parents. In CAPS, findings were replicated for mother-child dyads (β = 0.24). We highlight origins of multifinality in socialization sequelae of parental control.

Most scientists are aware that developmental databases derive primarily from Western, middle-class samples, but fewer are cognizant that developmental theories can be similarly biased. There is urgency in revising developmental theories, both scientifically (embracing diversity is essential to the study of human psychology) and applied (it is damaging to apply WEIRD standards/methods/theories to evaluate development in the multitude of non-WEIRD contexts).

We evaluate the extent to which two prominent developmental theories are inclusive. We find that Shared Intentionality Theory is based on a WEIRD bias in the foundational databases: the core constructs lack culturally diverse data, undermining claims that this theory explains human-general social cognition. In Attachment Theory, we illuminate the lack of inclusivity in the core assumptions and resulting claims of the meaning and measure of the attachment system: this theory excludes cultural diversity in social-emotional constructs focused on communal orientations (e.g., interdependence, attachment networks) found in many people of the Global South, and neglects culture-specific adaptive behavior patterns.

Acknowledging the lack of inclusivity at the level of theory is necessary. We urge researchers to take a more WILD approach: obtain Worldwide samples, study development In situ, focus on Local cultural practices and ethnotheories, and consider development as Diverse. Being WILD entails attending to inclusivity during the entire research process, from framing the research questions to interpreting the data (e.g., respecting all adaptive behaviors in development). Five Steps for Increasing Inclusivity can be used as a practical guide to decenter psychological theories from their current WEIRD mindset.

Under the leadership of its founding editor, Dante Cicchetti, Development and Psychopathology has been recognized for decades as the foremost journal integrating developmental theory and clinical research programs. Contributors have often highlighted the implications of attachment theory and research for understanding developmental processes and pathways, and as a testing ground for intervention strategies. In this paper we reflect on the strengths and limitations of the traditional developmental perspective. We suggest that behavioral, cognitive, and emotional development are better understood as a process of bricolage (construction within constraints). This perspective is illustrated in an analysis of change mechanisms, and behavioral and representational changes, in attachment development from pre-locomotor infancy to later adulthood. Special emphasis is placed on ordinary learning and cognitive processes, rather than those specific to attachment, and on the roles that socialization pressures and changing circumstances play in shaping the course of attachment development.

This study examines associations between early childhood attachment security and adolescent personality functioning in a high-risk sample within a developmental psychopathology framework. Data from 2,268 children (1165 male; 1103 female) and caregivers participating in Future of Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCWS) were used to examine (1) effects of genetic polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) and dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) genes and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on attachment security and emotional and behavioral dysregulation in early childhood and (2) longitudinal associations and transactional relationships among attachment security, dysregulation, negative parenting attitudes and behaviors, social competence, and adolescent personality functioning. Results revealed that ACEs predicted attachment security over and above sex or the genetic risk, and gene × environment interactions did not increment prediction. Results of cascade models showed that greater early childhood attachment security predicted higher adolescent level of personality functioning via pathways through intermediary variables. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Dr. Dante Cicchetti’s pioneering theory and research on developmental psychopathology have been fundamental to the proliferation of research on intergenerational transmission over the last 40 years. In part due to this foundation, much has been learned about continuities and discontinuities in child maltreatment, attachment, parenting, and psychopathology across generations. Looking towards the future, we propose that this field stands to benefit from a prospective, three-generation approach. Specifically, following established prospective, longitudinal cohorts of children over their transition to parenting the next generation will afford the opportunity to investigate the developmental origins of intergenerational transmission. This approach also can address key outstanding questions and methodological limitations in the extant literature related to the confounding of retrospective and prospective measures; examination of mediators and moderators; and investigation of the roles of biology, environment, and their interplay. After considering these advantages, we offer several considerations and recommendations for future research, many of which are broadly applicable to the study of two or more generations. We hope that this discussion will inspire the leveraging of existing prospective cohorts to carry forward Dr. Cicchetti’s remarkable contributions, with the ultimate aim to inform the development of preventions and interventions that disrupt deleterious intergenerational cycles.

Children are no strangers to war and conflict, and for as long as history has been documented, so too has the negative impact of war on children. Attachment theory, which has shone a light upon the ways in which early life experiences can impact individuals across the lifespan, is a helpful lens through which we can view the consequences of war. Similar to the aftermath of war leading to lifelong and transgenerational suffering due to deaths and physical health issues, attachment difficulties created during war further compound long-term damage. Yet, despite our theoretical understanding of the detrimental impact of war on children and on humankind, humanity has failed to find ways to avert, or at least minimise, this unfortunate risk. Instead in this century, we see a growing number of conflicts globally with increasing asylum seekers. In this editorial, we argue that the large-scale disruption to attachment relationships caused by conflict and war is an important consideration for global policy, and that the healthcare community must show leadership in highlighting this serious impact of war.