A Family Affair

Parents, Children and Society

by Jay Belsky

Attachment Security: Born or Made?

John Bowlby's theory of attachment has now influenced generations of psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, therapist, teachers and, of course, parents. Read More

The Timing of Family Instability

It comes as no news to anyone that family instability has has come to characterize the lives of many children over the past quarter century--and certainly far more so than it did when I was growing up in the 1950s. Most scholars concur that changes in who parents live with--or do not live with--often challenge children and can undermine their well being. Read More

Legacy of Childhood Exposure to Divorce: Marital Commitment & Confidence

It is reasonably well established that divorce is intergenerationally transmitted; that is, that individuals whose parents divorced while they were growing up are at increased risk of experiencing divorce when they themselves get married. Before saying anything more, it is critically important to appreciate that "increased risk" does not mean "inevitable". Read More

Legacy of Childhood on Attachment Security in Aging Adults

As I have noted before, a fundamental development question which motivates so much research on child development and advocacy on behalf of children stems from the belief that what happens early in life matters to how children turn out, not just in early childhood, or middle childhood, or even adolescence but well beyond. Read More

Rewards are Better than Punishment: Here’s Why

Many a child developmental professional will advise parents to try to ignore children's bad behavior and reward their good behavior. As most parent's know, this is sometimes easier said than done. After all, bad behavior can be so irritating that it is difficult not to respond to, that is, to ignore. It takes real discipline. Read More

Parent to Child: I am NOT your friend (nor should I be)

The famous, charismatic and now retired basketball player, Charles Barkley, once hit the nail on the head when he contended that being a star athlete did not qualify him to be a child's role model; that was the parent's job, he astutely observed. Read More

EARLY Parenting (Matters)

How does the nature and quality of parenting that a child experiences early in life affect how she functions later in life? That is a central issue when trying to understanding the role of early experience in psychological and behavioral development. Read More

Middle Age Begins Before Birth

middle age couple In my previous blog entry I floated the argument that for some it is commonsensical that what happens early in life is of little importance to how individuals turn out later in life. It appears to be indisputably the case that, at least in some respects, this claim is fundamentally false. Read More

Does how a young child is reared really matter?

The answer to the question posed in the title is commonsensical to many, whether they be professionally trained child developmentalists or not. One thing that fascinates me is that what is common sense to some is more or less idiocy--I am being purposefully hyperbolic here--to others. Read More