Babies and young children thrive when they are cared for by adults that are “crazy about them!” (Bronfenbrenner, 1976 ¹). Responsive relationships with consistent primary caregivers help build positive attachments that support healthy social-emotional development. These relationships form the foundation of mental health for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

"Infant mental health" is defined as the healthy social and emotional development of a child from birth to 3 years; and a growing field of research and practice devoted to the:

        Promotion of healthy social and emotional development; 
        Prevention of mental health problems; and 
        Treatment of the mental health problems of very young children in the context of their families.²

The Still Face paradigm, designed by Edward Tronick, is an experimental procedure for studying infant social and emotional development. During the experiment, an infant and a parent interact playfully before the parent suddenly stops responding and looks away. After a short period, the parent reengages with the infant. The infant’s reaction to a suddenly unresponsive parent and his or her behavior when the parent resumes interaction, have been used to study many aspects of early social and emotional development.

This video clip is excerpted from ZERO TO THREE's Helping Babies From the Bench: Using the Science of Early Childhood Development in Court.

ZERO TO THREE materials may not be reproduced, displayed, distributed or otherwise used in any format, including electronically, without the express written consent of ZERO TO THREE. Permission is needed for EACH separate product that will be shared and permission granted for one article or product does not convey to another article or product, even if the copyright of both is held by the same party. 

¹ Bronfenbrenner, U. (1976).  The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.

² This is a definition of infant mental health developed by ZERO TO THREE’s Infant Mental Health Task Force.