Could Emotional Security Theory Help Advance Family-Focused Preventive Interventions?

Abstract

In the following commentary, I examine the reformulated emotional security theory (EST-R) through the lens of a family-oriented prevention scientist. Over the past three decades, prevention science has accumulated an impressive body of findings that demonstrate the efficacy of family-focused preventive interventions for improving parenting and family functioning, while also decreasing child and adolescent mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. The following commentary begins with a brief overview of what we know about family-focused preventive interventions, highlights a few critical elements that we don't know, and then discusses how EST-R might help bridge that knowledge gap. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)