A Family Affair

Parents, Children and Society

Jay Belsky is Director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues and Professor of Psychology at Birkbeck University of London. Belsky is an expert in the field of child development and family studies. See full bio

January 6, 2009

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

December 16, 2008

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. Read More

October 28, 2008

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. Read More

October 15, 2008

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 chil Read More

September 25, 2008

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. Read More

September 12, 2008

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

September 2, 2008

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? Read More

August 12, 2008

Middle Age Begins Before Birth

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

July 30, 2008

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

July 8, 2008

Co-parenting POORLY (in intact families)

Do you undermine your partner's parenting--like this? Read More

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