Increasing secure base script knowledge among parents with Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up
Date
2021-01-25
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Development and Psychopathology
Abstract
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.
Description
This article was originally published in Development and Psychopathology. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001765. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press
Keywords
attachment representations, early intervention, parental sensitivity, peace justice and strong institutions
Citation
Raby, K. Lee, Theodore E. A. Waters, Alexandra R. Tabachnick, Lindsay Zajac, and Mary Dozier. "Increasing Secure Base Script Knowledge among Parents with Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up." Development and Psychopathology 33, no. 2 (2021): 554-64. doi:10.1017/S0954579420001765.