One of the critical factors in early development is the formation of a secure attachment, and it continues to be important for older children's responses to psychological stressors like hurt pride, fear, and sadness. This volume provides a timely review of research to date, describing important insights that have both theoretical and clinical importance as well as identifying remaining gaps in our understanding. Summarizing the most relevant findings, this volume is important for theory on child (attachment) development, and also for clinicians to broaden their understanding of the importance of middle childhood attachment processes for understanding the development of children's behavior problems and for designing effective treatment strategies. This is the 148th volume in this Jossey-Bass series New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. Its mission is to provide scientific and scholarly presentations on cutting edge issues and concepts in this subject area. Each volume focuses on a specific new direction or research topic and is edited by experts from that field.

Author Biography

Guy Bosmans is an assistant professor in the Parenting and Special Education Research Group at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Kathryn A. Kerns is a professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.