ABSTRACT
STEEP(TM) was one of the first attachment-based early intervention programs. The program applied findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study on Risk and Adaptation to the development of a supportive program for young high-risk mothers and their infants. STEEP's effectiveness was evaluated first in a randomized controlled study launched in 1987. The study showed effects of the one-year intervention on important individual and parenting variables, but not on quality of mother-infant attachment. In the current German study with young mothers at risk for abuse and neglect, a two-year adaptation of STEEP was evaluated within a quasi-experimental design. STEEP mother-infant pairs (N = 78) were compared with pairs who received standard services of the German Child Welfare System (GCWS, N = 29). Compared with GCWS pairs, significantly more mother-infant pairs in the intervention group showed secure attachment patterns in Ainsworth´s Strange Situation when the infants were 12 months of age. At the end of the intervention (infant age = 24 month), attachment security scores derived from Waters' Attachment Q-Sort were in the predicted direction and showed a medium effect size, but did not reach criteria of statistical significance. At both time points, the STEEP group showed significantly fewer signs of attachment disorganization than the comparison group.
Subject(s)
Maternal Behavior , Mother-Child Relations/psychology , Mothers/education , Object Attachment , Parenting/psychology , Adolescent , Child, Preschool , Depression, Postpartum/psychology , Female , Germany , Humans , Infant , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Social Support , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Vulnerable Populations , Young AdultABSTRACT
Preliminary results of the attachment-based STEEP(TM) (Steps toward effective and enjoyable parenting) research practice project "WiEge" are presented. Within a multisite, longitudinal intervention study, young high-risk mothers enrolled in the 2-year STEEP(TM) program have developed significantly more secure attachment relationships with their 1-year old children compared to mothers of the control group, who received the standard support as usual in the German welfare system. Age of mothers at birth of their children, educational level, single motherhood status, and mental health diagnoses indicate that both groups are comparable. A global measure of risk status indicates that mothers of the STEEP(TM) group confront even more risks than control group mothers. Additional data on depression (Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, EPDS), parenting stress (PSI), or risky parental attitudes (Adult-Adolescent Parenting Interview®, AAPI) are being presented and discussed with regard to the differences found being an effect of the STEEP(TM) program. Since the focus of the STEEP(TM) program is on empirically validated mechanisms in attachment development, it is also important that the results are in line with attachment theory. At the same time, we did not find significant group differences with regard to attachment disorganization. Supporting mothers in being more sensitive and to improve on reflective functioning--as being done in STEEP(TM)--does not seem to be sufficient to prevent attachment disorganization, as others studies have also shown. Although based on small sample sizes, the results are informative for improving intervention strategies, which need to focus more on the developmental process underlying attachment disorganization, i.e., unusual parental behavior.
Subject(s)
Early Intervention, Educational/statistics & numerical data , Mental Disorders/epidemiology , Mental Disorders/prevention & control , Mothers/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Mother-Child Relations , Pilot Projects , Program Evaluation , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
Results of longitudinal studies in developmental psychology have shown the importance of protective factors especially within high risk samples for adaptive development as they serve as puffers against many risks. An outstanding protective factor is a secure parent-child attachment relationship. This article outlines the different ways how attachment relationships can serve as protective mechanisms and especially how disorganized attachment relationships are leading to maladaptation and hostile attitudes and behaviors. In doing so it underscores the special importance of attachment experiences in early infancy. The concept of attachment relationship is described as opposed to the bonding concept with regard to its implications for practice. One of the first is to intervene early. In the final part the evidence based early intervention program "STEEP" is described as an application of attachment research on a poverty sample and as a response to violence.
Subject(s)
Domestic Violence/prevention & control , Health Promotion , Parent-Child Relations , Violence/prevention & control , Child , Germany , Humans , PovertyABSTRACT
How to deal appropriately with families affected by divorce has also been discussed among psychological experts for years. In this article the psychological expert opinion in a divorce is described as a possibility of intervention in a current separation conflict. Based upon a process oriented and systemic point of view the corresponding main principles and approaches are described which are essential for the task of forming an expert opinion in such a conflict.
Subject(s)
Child Custody/legislation & jurisprudence , Divorce/legislation & jurisprudence , Expert Testimony/legislation & jurisprudence , Child , Conflict, Psychological , Family Therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Parent-Child Relations , Parenting/psychologyABSTRACT
A child's relationship to both parents in divorcing families is discussed on the background of attachment research. Empirical data emphasize the effects of quality of attachment to both parents on child development, which arises out of the absence or the provision of a secure base. As a consequence the child develops internal working models of attachment figures and self, which is increasingly individually organized during the preschool years and shows considerable continuity throughout early and middle childhood. Adverse effects on attachment and its internal representations are expected to the degree to which through divorce the provision of a secure base is impaired. In psychological practice, parents have to be helped not only in balancing their adult conflicts but in providing a secure base for their children, without missusing them as alies or exposing them to pathological form of parentificaiton. All those are important issues of contextual therapy, which usefullness is especially discussed with respect to its key concept "multidirected partiality".
