Bringing a Developmental Perspective to Early Childhood and Family Interventionists

There is a pressing need to share advances in developmental science with the large, multidisciplinary professional workforce that serves vulnerable infants and toddlers and their families. Foundational knowledge and conceptual frameworks that integrate material regarding the contents and processes of early development and promotion of their use can assist interventionists and the families they serve. This chapter describes an approach that has been developed over the past 10 years and summarizes key contents with sample practical applications. Topic areas include developmental theories, newborn capacities, a model for synthesizing information about early social competence (including self-regulation, early relationships, social skills, and social cognition), and key current topics in developmental psychopathology. Brief considerations of diversity and stigma for work with young children and families are also included.