Learning to provide children with a secure base and a safe haven: The Circle of Security‐Parenting (COS‐P) group intervention

Kim, Monica; Woodhouse, Susan S.; Dai, Chenchen

doi:10.1002/jclp.22643

Cited by 21 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…However, exploratory moderation analyses indicated that maternal self-reported attachment style moderated the treatment effect on child attachment, such that treatment group children whose mothers scored high on attachment avoidance had higher rates of secure attachment and lower rates of disorganization postintervention than comparable children in the control group. The remaining COS-P studies report a range of positive outcomes, including greater emotional availability and more balanced representations of the infant (Risholm Mothander et al, 2018), reduced caregiving helplessness (Kohlhoff et al, 2016), and reduced depression symptoms (Coleman, 2014;Kim et al, 2018;Maupin et al, 2017). However, methodological limitations mean that current evidence can be described as promising at best.…”

Section: Evidence For Cos-pmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remaining COS‐P studies report a range of positive outcomes, including greater emotional availability and more balanced representations of the infant (Risholm Mothander et al., 2018), reduced caregiving helplessness (Kohlhoff et al., 2016), and reduced depression symptoms (Coleman, 2014; Kim et al., 2018; Maupin et al., 2017). However, methodological limitations mean that current evidence can be described as promising at best.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parent and practitioner perspectives on Circle of Security Parenting (COS‐P): A qualitative study

Maxwell

Reay

Huber

et al. 2021

Infant Mental Health Journal

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Circle of Security Parenting (COS-P) is an attachment-theory-informed program for parents of infants and young children. Designed for scalability, COS-P has been widely adopted internationally. Evidence for the program's effectiveness is limited, however, restricting capacity to make informed decisions about program allocation, and threatening ongoing program funding. To help address this evidence gap, this qualitative study explored the experiences and perceptions of 20 COS-P facilitators and 14 parent recipients in Australia, where COS-P uptake has been particularly widespread. Thematic analysis of combined interview and focus group data revealed a perception that COS-P primarily changes the lens through which parents view (a) their child, (b) themselves in the parenting role, and (c) the parent-child relationship, and that this was a pathway to increased empathy, compassion, and parenting confidence. Participants identified four components that underpinned program impact: key content, skills practice, group processes, and facilitator support. Although COS-P was considered suitable for broad application, limitations were noted. Findings can guide clinical application of COS-P and inform empirical research.

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Section: Evidence For Cos-pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent and practitioner perspectives on Circle of Security Parenting (COS‐P): A qualitative study

Maxwell

Reay

Huber

et al. 2021

Infant Mental Health Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the last decade, there has been an “explosion of interest in clinical applications of attachment theory” (Mikulincer et al, 2013, p. 606), but still, there is no widespread implementation in real-world settings (Kim et al, 2018).…”

Section: The Role Of the Therapist As A Secure Basementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotherapist as a secure base figure: Validation of the Secure Base Questionnaire (SBQ).

Carvalho¹,

Matos²

2021

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice

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This article describes the validation of a new measure for evaluating psychotherapists' relational dimensions. The Secure Base Questionnaire (SBQ) is a self-report measure designed to assess how psychotherapists perceive themselves as a secure base for their clients. The provision of a secure base in psychotherapy consists of the therapist's ability to be consistently responsive and emotionally available, and to provide conditions for the exploration and review of the client's internal working models of self and others. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 384 psychotherapists from different theoretical backgrounds and levels of experience. The factor validity of the instrument was conducted through principal component analysis, indicating a four factors solution: sensitivity, compulsive caregiving, avoidance of uncertainty, and encouragement of exploration. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed important associations between psychotherapist attachment experiences and the provision of a secure base in psychotherapy. The results stress the contribution of attachment theory, and SBQ in particular, for understanding relational dynamics in psychotherapy research and clinical practice.

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“…The Circle of Security (COS) model ( http://www.circleofsecurity.net/ ) is a parenting intervention that leverages research on attachment relationships combining psycho-education with a mentalization-based approach [ 25 , 26 ]. The main aim of COS is to promote parental insight into the child’s emotional needs and to enhance parental sensitivity towards these needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing the Circle of Security-parenting (COS-P) with treatment as usual in child mental health services

et al. 2022

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Background The quality of a child’s attachment to its primary caregiver plays an important role for its long-term socioemotional development. While ‘secure’ attachment is associated with better outcomes, ‘insecure’ attachment is associated with a higher risk of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Children referred to mental health services show much higher rates of insecure attachment than the general population, yet the parent-child relationship is rarely in treatment focus. Attachment quality is closely associated with parental sensitive responsiveness that is target of attachment-based interventions like Circle of Security (COS). COS has shown to improve attachment quality and the well-being of both children and parents. No randomized controlled trials have investigated the effect of COS on parental sensitivity and child psychiatric symptoms in child mental health services. Objectives To investigate whether COS-Parenting (COS-P) can increase observed maternal sensitivity and decrease children’s psychiatric symptoms as an add on to treatment as usual (TAU). Methods In a randomized controlled parallel superiority trial COS-P is compared with TAU for parents of children referred to child mental health services (n = 186). Families are randomized 2:1 to intervention or control group, if their child is between 3 and 8 years old and scores ≥ 93d percentile on both the CBCL total score and the oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder subscale. Primary outcome is maternal sensitivity, secondary and exploratory outcomes include, among others, child psychiatric symptoms, parental stress and coping with children’s negative emotions. Outcomes and adverse events are assessed before (T0) and after 10 weeks of treatment (T1) and 6 months later (T2). Regression analysis and /or ANOVA will be used for all outcomes. Perspectives Targeting the parent-child relation has the potential to reduce psychiatric symptoms in children. This trial will provide valuable information if attachment-based interventions like COS-P can enhance treatment as usual in child mental health services. Trail registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03578016.

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Learning to provide children with a secure base and a safe haven: The Circle of Security‐Parenting (COS‐P) group intervention

Cited by 21 publications

References 19 publications

Parent and practitioner perspectives on Circle of Security Parenting (COS‐P): A qualitative study

Parent and practitioner perspectives on Circle of Security Parenting (COS‐P): A qualitative study

Psychotherapist as a secure base figure: Validation of the Secure Base Questionnaire (SBQ).

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial comparing the Circle of Security-parenting (COS-P) with treatment as usual in child mental health services

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