The parent–child bond known as attachment plays a pivotal role in the development and wellbeing of all young children. While research indicates that there are challenges for children with a disability in developing a secure attachment, little is known about early childhood intervention (ECI) professionals’ knowledge of attachment, how they view its importance in their work, and how they translate this knowledge into practice. To address this gap in research, a questionnaire was developed and administered to ECI professionals at an Australian ECI organisation. Qualitative analysis of results (N= 49) revealed an overall understanding of the role of attachment in child development and indicated that ECI professionals perceive attachment as being very important in their role of enhancing children's learning and wellbeing. Importantly, it emerged that less than half the participants learnt about attachment in their undergraduate training, with most learning about it ‘on the job’ and just over half the respondents felt comfortable in addressing attachment concerns with families. Some families are thus left at risk of being inadequately supported to manage attachment problems. Participants identified a desire for further training. This exploratory study has implications for orientation, training, practice, and further research.

中文翻译：

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依恋与残疾儿童：早期干预专业人员的知识和观点

被称为依恋的亲子关系在所有幼儿的发展和幸福中起着关键作用。虽然研究表明残疾儿童在建立安全依恋方面存在挑战，但对于早期儿童干预 (ECI) 专业人员的依恋知识、他们如何看待其在工作中的重要性以及他们如何将这些知识转化为实践。为了解决研究中的这一差距，我们为澳大利亚 ECI 组织的 ECI 专业人员开发并管理了一份问卷。结果的定性分析（ñ= 49) 揭示了对依恋在儿童发展中的作用的总体理解，并表明 ECI 专业人员认为依恋在促进儿童学习和幸福方面的作用非常重要。重要的是，不到一半的参与者在本科培训中了解到依恋，大多数是在“工作中”学习的，超过一半的受访者对解决与家人的依恋问题感到满意。因此，一些家庭面临得不到足够支持来管理依恋问题的风险。参与者确定了进一步培训的愿望。这项探索性研究对定向、培训、实践和进一步研究具有重要意义。