A developmental psychopathology perspective on emotional availability research: current trends and challenges

Abstract

Studies using the Emotional Availability Scales have burgeoned in the past decade. The collection of papers included in this Special Section represents the latest innovations in research with this paradigm. Consistent with a developmental psychopathology perspective, these papers evaluate emotional availability in a variety of typical, at-risk, international, and intergenerational samples of children and caregivers, with many utilizing longitudinal designs or employing measures from multiple levels of analysis. One study begins to translate findings from this body of research into a promising intervention program. Although further growth and refinement in research with this paradigm is needed, the results to date begin to place the construct of emotional availability into a complex, dynamic biopsychosocial context, and promise to inspire a new generation of studies. In this commentary, some of the key contributions and challenges of this collection of studies are highlighted using a developmental psychopathology framework.