The “EA brief”: A single session of parent feedback and coaching to improve emotional attachment and emotional availability (EA)

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which a brief parenting intervention provided the context for helping families to support positive motherchild interactions as well as more optimal mother and child outcomes. Participants in this study were middle income mothers and their children were between 0-3 years of age (N = 25 dyads). Participants were filmed via Skype during a 20-minute mother-child free play and completed questionnaires (Time 1) before attending the brief intervention (involving: a single session of one-on-one parent feedback and coaching, and information via group meeting, texts, and reading) followed by a repeat of the 20-minute Skype interaction and the completion of the same questionnaires (Time 2). Paired samples t-tests were performed, revealing that mothers reported improvements in their personal well-being (using the Flourishing Scale), reports about the mother-child relationship (using the Emo

Fostering Emotional Availability in Mother-Child-Dyads With an Immigrant Background: A Randomized-Controlled-Trial on the Effects of the Early Prevention Program First Steps

“…This was the case, also for adopted children, in an EA parent intervention, but not in a control group (Baker et al, 2015) and for both children (child responsiveness) and teachers (structuring) in an EA child care intervention, also compared to a control group (Biringen et al, 2012). In a recent study with a brief parenting intervention with only one session for middle class mother-child dyads from 0 to 3 years (McConnell et al, 2020), only the child dimensions showed significant improvement. In an attachment-based intervention study with multi-cultural, pregnant adolescents in Australia (Nicolson et al, 2013) the intervention group scored significantly higher than the comparison group in two subscales (maternal non-intrusiveness and maternal non-hostility) in a free play situation and additionally in maternal sensitivity in a free play plus separation-reunion setting.…”

Observed Emotional Availability<bold> (EA) in the Early Months and Adolescence and Self-Reported EA at Any Age: A Narrative Review</bold>

“…There were no measurements of observed EA or of objectively measured sleep indicators, such as actigraphy. An additional two studies have shown that the EA-SR improves after intervention with direct coaching about attachment, EA, and use of mindfulness exercises (Baker et al, 2015;McConnell et al, 2020). Baker et al (2015) work was with 0-5-year-olds and McConnell et al ( 2020) studied 0-3-year-olds.…”

Emotional Availability: Clinical Populations and Clinical Applications

“…However, unlike Marte Meo, this method appears to be able to create improvement for those with mild interactional issues. McConnell et al (2020) conducted a single session of video feedback used for parent coaching for mothers of children 0-3 years of age, combined with the delivery of information (via one workshop that included coverage of mindfulness, attachment, and EA as well as sharing of videos of other parents) and 14 days of texting about attachment, mindfulness, and EA, referred to as the three pillars of practice. There was no control group.…”