Volume 37 · Number 6
JUNE 2007
Changing Caregivers: Coping with Early Adversity
By Mary Dozier, PhD; Johanna Bick
Human infants are born biologically prepared to form attachments to their caregivers. Bowlby suggested that the attachment system evolved to enhance the chances of survival. By the time infants are capable of moving away from attachment figures, they typically prefer to remain close under conditions of threat. Therefore, they do not wander away and become vulnerable to accidents or predators, but rather maintain close proximity to attachment figures. Given that human infants are “designed” to maintain contact with attachment figures, there is perhaps no greater threat than the disruption in the “parent-child” relationship. When young children experience disruptions in their relationships with their caregivers, such as when entering foster care, the disruptions have consequences for their behavior and their physiology.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mary Dozier, PhD, is Amy E. Dupont Chair of Child Development, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware. Johanna Bick is Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student, University of Delaware.
Address correspondence to: Mary Dozier, PhD, 114 Wolf Hall, Newark, DE 19716; fax: 302-831-6423; or e-mail: mdozier@udel.edu.
Dr. Dozier and Ms. Bick have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
It’s a Wonder that We Make It
Jan Fawcett, MD
Child Stress
Beth Ellen Davis, MD, MPH;
Elisabeth M. Stafford, MD
From Developmental to Catastrophic: Contexts and Meanings of Childhood Stress
Joshua D. Sparrow, MD
Maternal Depression and Child Outcomes
Patti L. Johnson, PhD;
Eric M. Flake, MD
The Impact of Trauma: A Developmental Framework for Infancy and Early Childhood
Alicia F. Lieberman, PhD;
Kathleen Knorr, LICSW
Parenting in Times of Crisis
Daniel S. Schechter, MD;
Beth Ellen Davis, MD, MPH
Recognizing and Responding to Child and Adolescent Stress: The Critical Role of the Pediatrician
Keith M. Lemmon, MD;
Elisabeth M. Stafford, MD
