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This project aimed to: (1) identify features of normal development and the quality of supports necessary for optimal adaptation; and (2) show that psychopathology is a deviation from normal patterns (“normative development gone awry”). The study has followed an initial sample of 267 pregnant mothers, whose children are now age 27 years. Defining features of the study include: frequent, detailed assessments; measurement during all aspects of development; multiple methods of measurement; and developmentally keyed focal constructs. The vital interpersonal relationships during different age periods were examined. These include attachment during infancy; peer-group entry and sustained interaction during preschool; organized groups and friendship during middle childhood; mixed-gender peer groups and friendship intimacy during adolescence; and stable romantic relationships, family formation, and networks during young adulthood. Through longitudinal investigation, it is possible to examine “developmental coherence,” or what the child brings from one developmental period to the next.

Investigators found links between quality of early care and relationship outcomes at later ages (e.g., positive family interactions; friendship competence with peers; involvement in, and quality of, romantic relationships). Quality of early care was a significant factor in relationship outcomes, even over and above more proximal indicators.

An important way of conceptualizing the links between optimal adaptation and psychopathology is in terms of children’s developmental capacities. For example, certain capacities, such as the positive valuing of relationships and the effective regulation of arousal and affect, enable children to demonstrate appropriate conduct. The absence of these capacities may be reflected in the development of conduct disorder. As another example, the absence of capacities such as effective arousal modulation and flexible deployment of attention may be reflected in the development of ADHD. Such capacities are not necessarily present at birth, but they unfold over the first few years of life with the aid of “developmental supports” (e.g., positive caregiver attitudes, appropriate scaffolding). When such supports are not in place—such as when caregivers are hostile, intrusive, overstimulating, or tease the child at a time when the child is disorganized—important capacities cannot develop and psychopathology (including comorbidities) may arise. Resiliency is a capacity that also develops in light of a child’s developmental history and supports. Investigators found that “resilient” children had more solid developmental histories, and that developmental history and current supports accounted for most of the variance in the construct of resilience.