RESUMO
Children from vulnerable backgrounds often have insecure attachment or disorganized attachment, which are related to psychological troubles, and such children need interventions to help them heal. The attachment system reorganizes in middle childhood, and other important adults play a considerable role in children's lives. Thus, it is essential to weigh the impact of psychosocial interventions, while the main focus of the intervention is the staff member's direct work with the child through a trusting relationship. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate whether children's attachment security and mental health outcomes change after participating in a trauma-informed, attachment-based, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) provided in a daycare center. It was a case-series study involving twelve children aged 8-11 years. The child attachment interview (CAI), CBCL/6-18, TRF/6-18, and clinical interviews for parents and children were used, measuring the change between the TBRI implementation in the daycare center and after one year. For ten participants, we noticed an improvement in mental health; for seven participants, security scales improved; for two participants, their disorganized attachment changed into insecure-dismissing. We have preliminary evidence that vulnerable children may benefit in terms of attachment security and mental health from the trusting relationship that staff build using the TBRI.
RESUMO
Child attachment undergoes major changes during middle childhood. Maternal reflective functioning (RF) is hypothesized to be an important correlate of a child's attachment security during this period; however, the child's gender role in this association has not been examined yet. In the present study, we used 64 mother-child (6-11 years old) dyads from a community sample to analyze the association between maternal RF and child attachment security and whether this link is moderated by gender. Maternal RF was assessed on the Parent Development Interview Revised (PDI-R2) and child attachment classifications were examined by the Child Attachment Interview (CAI). Results revealed the positive and statistically significant association between maternal RF and child attachment security in the whole sample. Further evaluations of this link in the groups of girls and boys separately indicated its significance for girls only. Finally, moderation analysis demonstrated the relation between child attachment security and maternal RF to be moderated by gender. These findings provide a new knowledge on gender role in attachment security in relation to maternal RF as well as suggest possible differentiation in the correlates on the pathway of secure attachment between girls and boys during middle childhood.
