Transnational Infancy: A New Context for Attachment and the Need for Better Models

— Researchers have paid little attention to the effects of a rapidly globalizing world on infants and toddlers, even though some features of globalization may have a significant impact on their development and well‐being. For example, fragmentation occurs in many North American and European transnational families when infants are separated from parents and cared for by geographically distant relatives, as is the case when new immigrants temporarily leave their infants in their country of origin or send them back to be cared for by relatives. There is much reason to believe that such separations can have an adverse effect on attachment, the emotional development of children, and the adjustment of parents. Yet Western mental‐health models may not accurately capture the full complexity of these new realities, nor adequately address risk and resiliency factors in clinical contexts. This article argues that it is the time to devote attention to the experience of infants and toddlers who exist in transnational environments, as these very young children may well be the most overlooked participants in globalization. This article proposes a model to support an emergent field of research, policy making, and practice.