Promoting secure attachment: evaluation of the effectiveness of an early intervention pilot programme with mother-infant dyads in Santiago, Chile.

BACKGROUND: Research indicates that the early attachment patterns of babies could influence their socio-emotional development and prevent the emergence of problematic behaviours in the child later in life. Many studies in the field of early attachment interventions have promoted a secure attachment bond between mother and infant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an early pilot intervention programme designed to promote a secure attachment bond in mother-infant dyads belonging to a population seeking regular treatment at urban health centres in Santiago, Chile. METHODS: Primipara mothers were randomly assigned to two intervention conditions: a secure attachment promotion programme (experimental group = 43) or an educational talk (control group = 29). The Strange Situation Assessment was used to collect data on the attachment patterns of babies. RESULTS: The results show that after the intervention, there were more babies with secure attachment in the experimental group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings represent a preliminary step towards evaluating interventions aimed at promoting secure attachment in Chilean mother-child dyads. While the effect of the intervention is not significant, the effect size obtained is respectable and consistent with other meta-analytic findings.

The value of standard electroencephalograms in the evaluation of the newborn with recurrent apneas.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the usefulness of the standard electroencephalograms in the evaluation of prematurely born infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit with recurrent apneas and bradycardias. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review. RESULTS: During the study period, 94 infants were evaluated for seizure activity. Twenty of these were prematurely born infants with recurrent apneas and bradycardias without clinically recognized seizures. The recordings were entirely normal in 10 cases, and in 9 showed interictal epileptiform discharges in excess of or in atypical locations than those expected for the gestational age at the time of the investigation. One had an abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern with episodes of generalized flattening occurring repeatedly throughout the entire recording. None had electrographic seizures. All infants were free of sepsis and gastroesophageal reflux and all had normal biochemistry at the time of the EEG recordings. CONCLUSION: In our study, routine EEG was not found to be useful in the investigation and management of prematurely born infants with recurrent apneas not associated with clinically recognized seizure activity.