This Perspectives in Infant Mental Health Supplement provides an overview of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) as represented in a selection of papers published by the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in The Signal and Perspectives In Infant Mental Health (Perspectives), from 1993 to 2021. This supplement is a sequel to the WAIMH eBook (Keren et al., 2022).
The Signal and WAIMH Perspectives in Infant Mental Health
Since 1993, the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) has been producing a regular newsletter for members and the global allied infant mental health community. This newsletter was originally called The Signal. In 2012, it was re-named: WAIMH Perspectives in Infant Mental Health (Perspectives).
The Signal and Perspectives has published papers on a wide array of infant mental health-related topics such as the relationship between parents and infants, caregiving relationships, and service development within infant mental health. The full collection of papers from 1993 to 2021 (access to all papers is available at: https://perspectives.waimh.org/perspectives-archive/
A summary of the history of this publication from 1993-2021 can be found here (Foley et al., 2021): The Signal and WAIMH Perspectives in Infant Mental Health: 1993-2021 – Perspectives
The WAIMH eBook (Keren et al., 2022)
To recap, the eBook (Keren et al., 2022), provides readers with a nearly three-decade-long window from which to view theories, interventions, and treatment practices within the specialized and interdisciplinary field of infant mental health. It does this by highlighting a representation of papers, published by WAIMH, in The Signal and Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, from 1993-2021.
The eBook provides an overview of infant mental health principles and observation practices, professional development topics, such as reflective supervision, parent-infant therapeutic modalities and settings, research, as well as contextual topics in the field, such as infant mental health promotion, infants rights, COVID-19, and resilience.
This supplement
Similarly, the papers in this supplement highlight a representation of papers, published by WAIMH, in The Signal and Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, from 1993-2021. In contrast, this supplement is more broadly oriented towards clinical concerns. It focuses more on specific issues encountered by babies, young children, and their families, in their communities, such as adoption, depression, family violence, prematurity, and feeding challenges.
Given the depth and breadth of papers published by WAIMH since 1993, the papers highlighted throughout this supplement are but a representation of the whole collection. Access to the full WAIMH open-source collection is available here: Perspectives Archive – Perspectives (waimh.org)
Paper outline
The ten papers in this supplement are ordered around three broad-stroke clinical themes. Theme one focuses on broader familial contextual issues such as exposure to family violence, adoption and foster care, premature babies and premature parenthood, and parental drug addiction. Theme two focuses specifically on the ways infants communicate about their experiences of their internal, external and inter-relational states, such as eating, depression, crying and disruptive behaviors. Finally, the third theme explores the broader issues of cultural representations and research in infant mental health.
Open invitation to contribute papers to Perspectives IMH
The aim of WAIMH is:
… to promote the mental wellbeing and healthy development of infants throughout the world, taking into account cultural, regional, and environmental variations, and to generate and disseminate scientific knowledge… (www.waimh.org)
Over time, The Signal and more recently Perspectives in Infant Mental Health, have contributed towards this aim, and continue to do so. As editors of this supplement, we thank all the authors, since 1993, for their interesting and thoughtful contributions.
As we move forward, we welcome submissions from the field that challenge the way we think about infants, families, culture, and community, and offer fresh perspectives on policy, research, and practice. We welcome papers, especially in areas where we find new challenges such as digital media and very young children, infants and families in humanitarian contexts, infant mental health ethics, issues of diversity, equity and belonging in infant mental health, and access to infant mental health training and ongoing professional development.
In sum, the WAIMH eBook in conjunction with this supplement, invites readers to consider the open-source WAIMH publications as a readily available resource to support each of us as we work together to progress the social, emotional, and relational health of all infants in their families within their culture and communities.
References
Fraiberg, S. (1980). Clinical Studies in Infant Mental Health: The First Year of Life. New York, Basic Books.
Keren, M., Foley, M., Weatherston, D. J., Puura, K., & O’Rourke, P. (Eds.) (2022). Global Perspectives on the Transdisciplinary Field of Infant Mental Health 1993 – 2021: WAIMH eBooks Topical Resource Guide, Volume 1. Finland: World Association for Infant Mental Health. WAIMH eBooks Topical Resource Guide, Volume 1 – World Association for Infant Mental Health
Perspectives in Infant Mental Health | Supplement 2024
Authors
Miri Keren (Israel)
Maree Foley (Switzerland)
Patricia O’Rourke (Australia)
Deborah J. Weatherston (United States)
Kaija Puura (Finland)
