This unprecedented set examines the most prominent factors that harm or support healthy development in children outside the United States, from abuse and economics to social injustice and poor public policy. In International Perspectives on Children and Mental Health, expert contributors from around the world examine the forces affecting the psychological well-being of children in regions worldwide. They consider such factors as family conditions and economic status, including single parents, poverty, disease, war, child abuse, substance abuse in the home, and a loss of community stability. And they look at political, religious, national, and global matters, including racism and class inequality. Since education is key to children's success, the essays consider these factors largely in the context of how they affect educational readiness and academic adjustment. Volume 1 of the set considers development and context, while volume 2 focuses on prevention and treatment. Specific examples enable readers to better understand the often-horrific challenges to child development and mental health across nations. But the work is not limited to exploring problems. It also looks at various programs and actions that mitigate risks, helping children to be mentally healthy despite the odds.

In International Perspectives on Children and Mental Health, expert contributors from around the world examine the forces affecting the psychological well-being of children in regions worldwide. They consider such factors as family conditions and economic status, including single parents, poverty, disease, war, child abuse, substance abuse in the home, and a loss of community stability. And they look at political, religious, national, and global matters, including racism and class inequality. Since education is key to children's success, the essays consider these factors largely in the context of how they affect educational readiness and academic adjustment. Volume 1 of the set considers development and context, while volume 2 focuses on prevention and treatment. Specific examples enable readers to better understand the often-horrific challenges to child development and mental health across nations. But the work is not limited to exploring problems. It also looks at various programs and actions that mitigate risks, helping children to be mentally healthy despite the odds.

This book examines infant and early childhood mental health and the importance of early emotional and social development for later developmental trajectories. It incorporates research and clinical perspectives and brings research findings to bear in evaluating intervention strategies. By incorporating empirical developmental literature that is directly relevant to infant mental health and clinical practice, the book addresses the multiple forces which shape young children’s mental health. These forces include child factors, parental and familial variables, childrearing practices, and environmental influences. In addition, the book explores parent-child relationships, family networks, and social supports as protective factors, as well as risk factors such as poverty, exposure to violence, and substance abuse, which influence and change developmental processes. It shows that, by examining socio-emotional development in a cultural context, human development in the twenty-first century can be conceptualized through differences, similarities and diversity perspectives, focusing on the rights of every individual child.

This handbook addresses universal developmental and cultural factors contributing to child and adolescent mental health and well-being across the globe. It examines sociocultural contexts of development and identifies children's and adolescents' perspectives as critical to understanding and promoting their psychological well-being. It details the Promoting Psychological Well-Being Globally project’s methodology for data collection and analysis, provides cross-cultural analyses of its findings, and offers a practical model for clinicians and other professionals seeking to apply this knowledge to real-life settings. Featured topics include: Sexual health, gender roles, and psychological well-being in India. Psychological well-being as a new educational boundary in Italy. Mapping psychological well-being in Romania. Youth perspectives on contributing factors to psychological well-being in Sri Lanka. Culturally specific res ilience and vulnerability in Tanzania. Longing for a balanced life – the voices of Chinese-American/immigrant youth in the United States. The International Handbook of Psychological Well-Being in Children and Adolescents: Bridging the Gaps Between Theory, Research, and Practice is an invaluable resources for researchers, clinicians, scientist-practitioners, and graduate students in child and school psychology, social work, public health, positive psychology, educational policy and politics, and maternal and child health.

This book provides an analysis of children’s play across many different cultural communities around the globe. Each chapter discusses children’s play as an activity important for formal and informal education, mental health and childhood well-being, and children’s hobbies and past-times. Traditional, modern and postmodern play forms are discussed and probed for their meaning within a contemporary global community. Authors address the functions that this phenomenon serves for indigenous cultures and the problems that arise due to the globalization of educational and social resources. Issues that are covered include the importance of conceptualizing the relationship between play and culture, how play varies both within and between cultures, children’s non-play activities in relation to play activities, how play is learned and how adults, parents and teachers, as well as older peers and siblings, are all important influences on the play of children. Questions that are raised include: Is it fair to emphasize the importance of certain kinds of play, such as social pretense play? Is this ethnocentric? Is the mastery of certain forms of play (e.g. socio-dramatic play) during the early years critical in the acculturation process? How are different cultures incorporating literacy props in play, or otherwise developing early educational programmes that use play educationally to foster literacy acquisition? These and many other questions or issues are taken up in this volume. At the heart of the book is a focus on human rights, in particular the Child’s Right to Play as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The book is committed to the principle of all children reaching their full potential and the enhancement of their families, communities, and cultures through play.