Intervening with Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up to decrease disrupted parenting behavior and attachment disorganization: The role of parental withdrawal

Abstract

This randomized controlled trial investigated the efficacy of Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC; Dozier, Bick, & Bernard, 2011) in reducing disrupted parenting behavior (affective communication errors, role/boundary confusion, fearful/disoriented, intrusive/negativity, and withdrawal) and its association with disorganized attachment. Participants were 105 mother–child dyads randomized to receive either ABC or a control intervention (a 10-session home-visiting intervention focused on improving children's cognitive abilities, gross and fine motor abilities, and language development). At the time of study enrollment, mothers were approximately 26.7 years old (SD = 7.8) and predominantly Black or African American (73.9%). At the first follow-up visit, children were approximately 20.7 months old (SD = 6.3) and most were identified as Black or African American (61.9%). Fifty-two percent of children were male (n = 55). Assessments of disrupted parenting behavior and child attachment quality were assessed approximately 7 months postintervention (SD = 5.8). A one-way analysis of variance revealed that parents who received ABC demonstrated lower levels of parental withdrawal than parents who received the control condition. A structural equation model revealed a significant indirect effect of intervention group on attachment quality through lower levels of parental withdrawal. Results add to the efficacy of the ABC intervention and identified parental withdrawal as a mediator of change.

Prenatal Identification of Risk for Later Disrupted Parenting Behavior Using Latent Profiles of Childhood Maltreatment

“…In addition, interventions with mothers who have certain profiles of trauma experiences may target decreasing certain forms of disorganized parenting. In fact, recent work highlights that reducing disruptive forms of parenting behaviors is an essential, explanatory component in the relationship between attachment-based interventions and more optimal attachment outcomes for young children (Tereno et al, 2017;Yarger et al, 2019).…”

Feasibility of training service providers on the AMBIANCE‐Brief measure for use in community settings

“…Similarly, disrupted caregiving and child maltreatment are not equivalent. However, the AMBIANCE‐Brief can still be useful in clinical settings, both as a screening tool to signal a need for parent–child relational intervention and as a measure to assess the treatment efficacy of attachment‐based interventions (e.g., Tereno et al., 2018; Yarger et al., 2019). That said, the AMBIANCE‐Brief should be used as one of many measures or indicators in a multimethod and multi‐informant assessment of family risk.…”

“…The validity, reliability, and predictive capacity of the AMBIANCE is well‐established. The AMBIANCE is (a) associated with disorganized attachment (Madigan et al., 2006); (b) stable over time periods ranging from 10 to 72 months (Madigan et al., 2006); (c) associated with socioemotional difficulties from toddlerhood to age 20 years (Dutra et al., 2009; Madigan et al., 2007; Shi et al., 2012); and (d) can be used in intervention contexts to assess whether anomalous parenting behaviors decrease on account of intervention effects (Benoit, Madigan, Lecce, Shea, & Goldberg, 2001; Madigan, Hawkins, Goldberg, & Benoit, 2006; Tereno et al., 2018; Yarger, Bronfman, Carlson, & Dozier, 2019). Thus, the AMBIANCE yields vital information regarding caregiver behavior, child outcomes, and targets of intervention.…”

Attachment security differs by later autism spectrum disorder: A prospective study

“…Among children with ASD, interventions focused on enhancing parental sensitivity have yielded reductions in parental intrusiveness (Poslawsky et al, 2015) and positive effects on children's attachment‐related behaviors (Siller, Swanson, Gerber, Hutman, & Sigman, 2014), but were conducted with older children 1.5–6 years of age. Approaches such as Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐Up (Dozier & Bernard, 2019), which aim to enhance parental sensitivity and nurturing behaviors, have yielded decreases in parental withdrawal that were associated with increases in the attachment quality of younger infants not at high risk for ASD (Yarger, Bronfman, Carlson, & Dozier, 2019). The current results suggest the need for interventions for infants at high risk for ASD that specifically target parent sensitivity in the face of infant negative affect, as a means to decreasing resistant attachment behaviors.…”