BOOK REVIEWS 205

Overall, the mixture of life-experiences and robust academic data lead me to conclude that this book would be too intensive for the bedside, too homely for the desktop, but is highly recommended for an indulgent, enjoyable and instructive afternoon in the armchair.

CAROLYNJOHN

M. T. GREENBERG, D. CICCHETTI and E. M. CUMMINGS (Eds): Attachment in the Preschool Years: Theory, Research and Intervention. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1990). xii + 507 pp. E31.95.

This book aims to integrate current and prospective attachment research within the developmental phase of the preschool years (18 months-4 yr). Following on from the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth with infants, the aim is to highlight the importance of developing social, cognitive and linguistic abilities in this often neglected age group. This volume consists of a compilation of papers written largely by psychologists and psychiatrists as part of a collaborative research effort focussing on the transition from infancy to early childhood.

The book contains fourteen chapters divided into four parts. The first part deals with theoretical issues, providing an informative introduction to the methodology of attachment research with young children. Numerous recent studies are reported on as well as a whole new glossary of terms to guide research in the future. Part two covers current research on the normal development of attachment in preschool years. Again, recent empirical evidence is presented. Conceptual difficulties abound, recycled categories of attachment behaviour are described, and definitive conclusions are disappointingly sparse. Part three broaches the subject of the developmental psychopathology of attachment. The researchers describe building on Ainsworth’s Strange Situation paradigm to encompass the study of older children and its subsequent use for identifying young children at risk for depression in later life. Whether these markers are of use in real life clinical populations remains to be seen.

Part four views clinical intervention from an attachment perspective. This is a useful section covering treatment of preschool conduct problems involving an integrated approach combining behavioural and attainment concepts. Assessment of the problems and case illustrations help clarify research suggestions made earlier in the text.

While far from being a clinicians’ aid to intervention with preschool children, this book contains thought provoking ideas for both clinicians and researchers working in this field.

MICHELLE NEW