Over the past more than 20 years, I have worked in close collaboration with my colleague at Western, David Pederson. Throughout that time, we have pursued a better understanding of the nature, origins, and consequences of the first human relationship between an infant and her mother. This work has taken us into a variety of domains, including the description of naturalistic patterns of early interaction, an examination of the mother’s state of mind regarding intimate relationships, the impact of childhood sexual and physical abuse on the attachment relationship, and the special challenges faced by adolescent mothers and their infants.
Articles
Validation of a Short Version of the Maternal Behavior Q-set Applied to a Brief Video Record of Mother–infant Interaction (with George M. Tarabulsy, Marc A. Provost, Stéphanie Bordeleau, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, David R. Pederson, Myriam Trabelsi, Jean-Pascal Lemelin, and Tamarha Pierce), Infant Behavior and Development (2009)
Both Maternal Sensitivity and Atypical Maternal Behavior Independently Predict Attachment Security and Disorganization in Adolescent Mother–infant Relationships (with Lindsey Forbes, Elspeth Evans, George M. Tarabulsy, and Sheri Madigan), Infant Behavior and Development (2008)
Similarities and Differences in Mothers’ and Observers’ Ratings of Infant Security on the Attachment Q-Sort (with George M. Tarabulsy, Marc A. Provost, Simon Larose, Ellen Moss, Jean-Pascal Lemelin, Lindsey Forbes, and David R. Pederson), Infant Behavior and Development (2008)
Unresolved Maternal Attachment Representations, Disrupted Maternal Behavior and Disorganized Attachment in Infancy: Links to Toddler Behavior Problems (with Sheri Madigan, Carlo Schuengel, David R. Pederson, and Roy Otten), Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (2007)
Childhood Maltreatment, Complex Trauma Symptoms, and Unresolved Attachment in an At-risk Sample of Adolescent Mothers (with Heidi Neufeld Bailey and David R. Pederson), Attachment & Human Development (2007)
Books
Academic Transformation: The Forces Reshaping Higher Education in Ontario (with Ian D. Clark, Michael L. Skolnik, and David Trick) (2009)
Attachement et développement: Le rôle des premières relations dans le développement humain (with George Tarabulsy, Simon Larose, and David Pederson) (2000)
Contributions to Books
Adolescent Motherhood, Maternal Sensitivity, and Early Infant Development (with George M. Tarabulsy, David R. Pederson, Marc Provost, and Simon Larose), Maternal Sensitivity: A Scientific Foundation for Practice (2011)
Becoming Sensitive to Sensitivity: Lessons Learned from the Development of the Maternal Behavior Q‑Sort (with David R. Pederson and George M. Tarabulsy), Maternal Sensitivity: A Scientific Foundation for Practice (2011)