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Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
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Mapping What Works to Strengthen the Relational Ecology of Early Child Development: A Systematic Scoping Review

Matthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz1, Suzanne Vassallo2, Tracy Evans-Whipp2

  • 1Faculty of Health, School of Psychology, SEED Lifespan Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VC, 3125, Australia. matthew.fuller-tyszkiewicz@deakin.edu.au.

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
|April 17, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Secure child-carer bonds depend on relationships within families and communities. Interventions primarily target mother-child dyads, neglecting fathers and broader support systems, hindering optimal early child development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Family Studies
  • Public Health Interventions

Background:

  • Secure child-carer bonds are influenced by a complex relational ecology, including parents, other care providers, and societal structures.
  • Understanding the development of evidence-based interventions across this relational ecology is crucial for early child development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To conduct a scoping review mapping scientific progress in developing evidence-based interventions for early child development.
  • To examine interventions across family, community, and structural levels of the relational ecology.

Main Methods:

  • A systematic literature search was performed across Ovid MEDLINE, PsychInfo, and Embase databases.
  • 123 papers, representing 110 unique interventions involving 30,207 families, were included in the final analysis.

Main Results:

  • Intervention development predominantly focused on the mother-child relationship, with limited attention to father involvement or extended family/community care systems.
  • Many scalable, population-based programs were integrated into universal newborn healthcare services, demonstrating potential for broad reach.
  • Significant gaps exist in interventions targeting broader relational systems beyond the immediate family unit.

Conclusions:

  • Current interventions for fostering secure child-carer bonds are narrowly focused, primarily on mothers.
  • Greater investment is needed in developing interventions that encompass fathers, extended family, and community support systems.
  • Addressing these gaps is essential for creating supportive environments where child-carer emotional bonds can thrive.

Keywords:
RCT evaluated programsRelational healthScoping reviewUniversal interventions

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