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Rebecca Riddell (Photo: YorkU)[/caption]Bio
D r. Rebecca Pillai Riddell\, York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health\, is Director of the O.U.C.H. [Opportunities to Underst and Childhood Hurt] Lab\, Associate Professor at York University\, Scientif ic Staff with the Hospital for Sick Children\, and Adjunct Associate Profes sor with University of Toronto. Her research involves linking early immunization behaviour to both health and mental health outcomes. Dr. Pilla i Riddell's interest in the caregiver-child relationship began as an underg raduate student at York and has continued through her graduate research tra ining career at UBC and Hospital for Sick Children. She currently directs t wo primary lines of research and participates in the leadership of other pr ograms with colleagues from across the country.
Abstract
Attachment theory is arguably one of the most influential theories in child development. Building a secure attachment is one of the most imp ortant milestones of early childhood. Child development scientists know tha t observing infants and caregivers during distressing events are highly pre dictive of future infant and caregiver behaviour. Child development clinici ans know that caregiver soothing and scaffolding of distress-regulation is critical to long term mental health outcomes. Yet\, despite the importance of learning emotional regulation and its dependence on early caregiving\, l ittle work has been done to help integrate this into pediatric primary care settings.
John Bowlby’s seminal work suggests that attachment behavio ur is activated when an infant experiences pain. Based on this premise\, we suggest that screening of caregiver support for infant distress regulation can be feasibly conducted during routine vaccination. Through detailed ana lysis of the largest longitudinal study of its kind (n=760)\, the OUCH Coho rt has provided a number of insights on the application of attachment theor y to the context of acute pediatric pain. Whether working in the field or i n the lab\, these findings help broaden our understanding of attachment out side of traditional settings.