Application of the ARC Model with Adopted Children: Supporting Resiliency and Family Well Being

Abstract

This project describes application of an evidencedbased, trauma-informed treatment framework, Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC), with adopted children impacted by complex trauma and their caregivers. Results demonstrate that ARC treatment was associated with significant decreases in child symptoms and caregiver stress from pre-to post-treatment, which were maintained over a 12-month follow up period. Preliminary findings contribute to an emerging empirical basis for the ARC model and are supportive of its clinical utility as a practice with adopted children. Next steps include; a) expanding study findings by conducting controlled efficacy research, b) examining the transaction between child and caregiver factors as agents of change, and c) conducting longitudinal research of children and families receiving ARC to more deeply examine impact on resiliency.

Equine Facilitated Therapy for Complex Trauma (EFT-CT)

“…ARC addresses multiple domains of impairment associated with complex trauma symptomatology. Importantly, ARC has been shown to be effective in the reduction of PTSD symptoms, internalizing difficulties, and externalizing behaviors in youth in diverse treatment settings (e.g., residential, outpatient; Arvidson et al 2011 ; Hodgdon et al 2016 ; Hodgdon et al 2013 ; IFC MARCO 2010 ). In response to the multifaceted presentations of the youth and families served, JRI sought to explore alternative treatment models that target the domains and subskills of ARC.…”

Systematic review of organisation‐wide, trauma‐informed care models in out‐of‐home care (Oo HC ) settings

“…Three of the seven studies included in the current review evaluated the ARC model (Arvidson et al., ; Hodgdon et al., , ). In the first of these papers, Arvidson and colleagues used a naturalistic study design to measure preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the ARC model on children in the Alaskan child protection system.…”

“…All seven papers included in this review were from the United States, and all presented empirical data from OoHC populations from one of three organisation-wide, trauma-informed models. The three models were: (a) Attachment Regulation and Competency framework (ARC), three papers (Arvidson et al, 2011;Hodgdon, Blaustein, Kinniburgh, Peterson, & Spinazzola, 2016;Hodgdon, Kinniburgh, Gabowitz, Blaustein, & Spinazzola, 2013); (b) the Children and Residential Experiences programme (CARE); one paper (Izzo et al, 2016); and (c) The Sanctuary Model, three papers Kramer, 2016;Rivard, Bloom, McCorkle, & Abramovitz, 2005).…”

“…Only one of the seven papers was rated as moderate on the risk of bias assessment (Izzo et al, 2016), with all other studies rated as weak. Five of the seven papers we assessed had weak study designs (Arvidson et al, 2011;Bloom et al, 2003;Hodgdon et al, 2013Hodgdon et al, , 2016Kramer, 2016), and only one study accounted for confounding variables (Izzo et al, 2016). No studies mentioned blinding of participants or researchers, and all except one study (Izzo et al, 2016) were rated as weak on withdrawals/dropouts of participants from studies.…”

“…The Attachment, Self-regulation, and Competency Model aims to provide a theoretically driven and flexible framework for organisations that provide services for traumatised children (Hodgdon et al, 2016). Included in the organisation-wide approach are three levels, the individual child, the child's family or care-givers, practitioners, which may be individual, family, or system based (Kinniburgh, 2005).…”