Infant mental health and family support
Contributions of Early Head Start to an integrated model for community‐based early childhood programs
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11276549 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carol L Mcallister (University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author), Tammy Thomas (University of Pittsburgh) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 192-215 |
| Publication date | 2007-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Infant Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-9641 • E-ISSN: 1097-0355 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/imhj.20129 |
| PMID | 28640550 |
| OpenAlex | W2067358656 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 19 |
This paper analyzes the experiences of an Early Head Start (EHS) program in adopting and implementing an infant mental health (IMH) approach in its work with community families. Through qualitative methods (participant observation, qualitative interviews, and case studies), we examined the strategies used, and the challenges encountered, by program staff as they applied IMH principles in their home‐visiting interventions with families whose lives involve significant economic, social, and psychological stressors. Our study identified four elements crucial to an effective IMH initiative: (1) teamwork, especially the use of transdisciplinary teams to review family cases, (2) reflective supervision, (3) development of an integrated and empathic understanding of the child's needs and the parent's challenges in meeting those needs, and (4) a dynamic ecological understanding of children, families, and communities in which psychosocial and socioeconomic factors are viewed as mutually important and interactive. We argue that each of these elements both builds on and enhances long‐standing dimensions of this EHS program's family support approach, creating an innovative and integrated model of IMH and family support that could prove of value in many community‐based programs serving children and families whose emotional health is affected by everyday experiences of economic and social inequality
Developmental psychology · Early childhood · Early Head Start · Head start · Infant mental health · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychosocial · Qualitative research · Social support · Sociology · Teamwork · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Infant Development and Preterm Care · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology
Anything Would Be Easier than What We’re Doing Right Now”
Understanding the needs of staff in Head Start programs
Organizational climate and burnout among home visitors
Interfacing Infant Mental Health Knowledge
Strengthening and recognizing knowledge, skills, and reflective practice
Serving Highly Vulnerable Families in Home‐Visitation Programs
Maternal depression and parental distress among families in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project
Looking ahead
The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment
From Neurons to Neighborhoods
Ghosts in the Nursery
Ethnography
Where are we going in the field of infant mental health
Diversity
Early Head Start
The European Early Promotion Project
Irving B. Harris Distinguished Lecture
Parents, Practitioners, and Researchers
The Effectiveness of Early Head Start for 3-Year-Old Children and Their Parents
A Strength-Based and Early Relationship Approach to Infant Mental Health Assessment
Studying the Role of Family and School in the Development of African American Preschoolers in Violent Neighborhoods
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,42 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2025 (19) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |