Disorders of Behavioral and Emotional Regulation in the First Years of Life: Early Risks and Intervention in the Developing Parent-Infant Relationship

• Published in: ZERO TO THREE
• Main Authors: Papousek, Mechthild, Ed, Schieche, Michael, Ed, Wurmser, Harald, Ed
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: ZERO TO THREE 2007
• Subjects: Behavior Disorders; Case Studies; Child Development; Clinical Diagnosis; Early Intervention; Emotional Disturbances; Foreign Countries; Germany; Infant Behavior; Infants; Outcomes of Treatment; Parent Child Relationship; Pediatrics; Psychopathology; Risk; Germany
• ISBN: 1934019178; 9781934019177

For every five healthy babies and infants, there is at least one who brings unusual stresses for its parents with behaviors such as inconsolable crying, sleep disorders, refusal to eat, chronic moodiness, incessant demands for attention, fearful clinging, or tantrums. Available for the first time in English, this influential German collection summarizes current scientific and clinical evidence on the most frequent disorders of behavioral and emotional regulation typically observed during the first years of life within the developing systems of parent-infant communication, attachment, and early relationships. The volume includes contributions by internationally well-known authors from a variety of disciplines, as well as clinical results and long-term diagnostic and therapeutic experiences from the 12-year Munich Interdisciplinary Research and Intervention Program for Fussy Babies at the Center for Social Pediatrics in Munich, Germany. Four articles discuss the theoretical conceptualization and classification of disorders of behavioral and emotional regulation, situating them between normal developmental perturbations on the one side and early manifestations of psychopathology on the other. The implication for clinical practice is that the diagnosis disorder of behavioral and emotional regulation signifies a new kind of patient: the parent-infant system. Residing neither in the infant alone nor in one or both parents alone, the problems originate, become exacerbated, and tend to persist in the developmental context of everyday parent-infant interactions and parent-child relationships. Eleven further articles summarize current empirical knowledge and Munich Program clinical experience about the main behavioral syndromes observed in the first years of life, including contributing factors, detailed case studies, and treatment models. Four of these articles describe video-supported parent-infant psychotherapy and the integrative communication-centered approach to parent-infant counseling and psychotherapy developed in the Munich Program for excessive crying and sleep and feeding disorders. This book is designed as a resource for professionals who either practice or counsel in prenatal and postnatal care, including pediatric and psychotherapeutic practices, family centers and counseling centers, nurseries, child welfare programs, and early intervention services. It is also intended to inspire scientific engagement in this under-researched area by scientists, clinical researchers, and therapists. (Contains index.) [Translated by Kenneth Kronenberg.]