The present study used a longitudinal randomized clinical trial to test whether an early intervention has causal effects on children's autonomic nervous system regulation. When children were infants, parents involved with Child Protective Services received Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC; N = 43), an intervention that promotes sensitive parenting, or a control intervention (N = 53). When children were 9 years old, children whose parents had received ABC exhibited higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia and lower heart rate at rest and during a parent-child interaction than children in the control group. Intervention effects were not detected for children's average skin conductance levels or for indices of autonomic reactivity. Results suggest that a parenting-focused early intervention impacted the development of children's autonomic regulation.

Background: Growing work points to the negative impact of early adverse experiences on the developing brain. An outstanding question concerns the extent to which early intervention can normalize trajectories of brain development in at-risk children. We tested this within the context of a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of an early parenting program, the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch up (ABC), delivered to parents and infants monitored for maltreatment by Child Protective Services. Methods: Families participated in the RCT when children were 2.5 years of age and younger. Parenting and home adversity was measured at baseline. Children were followed longitudinally and resting brain activity was measured electrophysiologically (n=106) when children reached 8 years of age. Spectral power was quantified and compared across children assigned to the experimental intervention (ABC), a control intervention, and a low-risk comparison group (n=76) recruited at the follow up assessment. Results: Higher early home adversity was associated with electrophysiological profiles indicative of cortical delays/immaturity in middle childhood, based on relatively greater power in lower frequency bands (theta, 4-6Hz and low alpha, 6-9Hz) and lower power in a higher frequency band (high alpha, 9-12Hz). Children assigned to ABC showed relatively greater high frequency power (beta, 12-20Hz) than children assigned to the control intervention. Beta power in the ABC did not differ from those of the low risk comparison group. Conclusions: Maltreatment risk and home adversity can affect indicators of middle childhood brain maturation. Early parenting programs can support more normative patterns of neural function during middle childhood.

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Background Interventions have been developed to promote the development of secure and organized attachments during early childhood among children who have experienced early adversity, yet little is known about whether the effects of these early interventions are sustained beyond 12 months postintervention. The current study examined whether receiving the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐Up (ABC) intervention during infancy led to improvements in perceived attachment security in middle childhood among 100 Child Protective Services (CPS)‐referred children. Methods Children and parents were randomized to receive ABC or a control intervention during infancy. Children completed the Kerns Security Scale at age nine (Mage = 9.46, SD = 0.36). (Trial Registry Name: Intervening Early with Neglected Children; Registry ID: NCT02093052; URL for registry: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02093052?term=dozier%26rank=1). Results Children whose parents received ABC reported higher levels of attachment security on the Kerns Security Scale at age nine than children whose parents had received the control intervention, t(98) = 2.31, p = .023, d = 0.49. Conclusions Findings underscore the long‐term benefits of intervening early to promote caregiving quality among at‐risk families and demonstrate the efficacy of a brief 10‐session intervention in promoting attachment security over the span of eight years in a sample of CPS‐referred children.

This study evaluated whether Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), a parenting intervention, altered the attachment representations of parents (average age of 34.2 years) who had been referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) due to risk for child maltreatment when their children were infants. Approximately 7 years after completing the intervention, parents who had been randomized to receive ABC (n = 43) exhibited greater secure base script knowledge than parents who had been randomized to receive a control intervention (n = 51). Low-risk parents (n = 79) exhibited greater secure base script knowledge than CPS-referred parents who had received a control intervention. However, levels of secure base script knowledge did not differ between low-risk parents and CPS-referred parents who had received the ABC intervention. In addition, secure base script knowledge was positively associated with parental sensitivity during interactions with their 8-year-old children among low-risk and CPS-referred parents. Mediational analyses supported the idea that the ABC intervention enhanced parents’ sensitivity 7 years later indirectly via increases in parents’ secure base script knowledge.