TY - JOUR

T1 - Infant-mother attachment can be improved through group intervention

T2 - a preliminary evaluation in Spain in a non-randomized controlled trial

AU - Torres, Bárbara

AU - Alonso-Arbiol, Itziar

AU - Cantero, María José

AU - Abubakar, Amina

PY - 2011/11

Y1 - 2011/11

N2 - The quality of infant-mother attachment has been linked to competence in different domains of child development. Research indicates that early intervention can enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment, though its efficacy in a group format has yet to be evaluated. The current study is aimed at examining the usefulness of a group intervention in enhancing infant-mother attachment. An intervention aimed at addressing aspects such as maternal responsivity, sensitivity and childrearing behaviour was developed by the researchers and experienced psychologists. The intervention spanned a period of 14 months starting from the third quarter of pregnancy. The intervention was evaluated among 24 mothers from the Basque region of Spain. The sample consisted of children of both genders in a similar proportion: 45.8% were boys and 54.2% were girls. The children in this sample were full-term born and did not present symptoms of any serious pre- or postnatal complications. The intervention had a statistically non-significant medium effect. Infants whose mothers had received the intervention showed higher rates of secure attachment compared to children from the control group, as assessed by the Strange Situation observation procedure. A potentially significant confounding variable, maternal attachment, was balanced across the intervention and comparison groups. We can tentatively point out that a group intervention may enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment. Nevertheless, because the study design was not randomized, the results of this study remain preliminary and need replication in a full randomized controlled trial designed study.

AB - The quality of infant-mother attachment has been linked to competence in different domains of child development. Research indicates that early intervention can enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment, though its efficacy in a group format has yet to be evaluated. The current study is aimed at examining the usefulness of a group intervention in enhancing infant-mother attachment. An intervention aimed at addressing aspects such as maternal responsivity, sensitivity and childrearing behaviour was developed by the researchers and experienced psychologists. The intervention spanned a period of 14 months starting from the third quarter of pregnancy. The intervention was evaluated among 24 mothers from the Basque region of Spain. The sample consisted of children of both genders in a similar proportion: 45.8% were boys and 54.2% were girls. The children in this sample were full-term born and did not present symptoms of any serious pre- or postnatal complications. The intervention had a statistically non-significant medium effect. Infants whose mothers had received the intervention showed higher rates of secure attachment compared to children from the control group, as assessed by the Strange Situation observation procedure. A potentially significant confounding variable, maternal attachment, was balanced across the intervention and comparison groups. We can tentatively point out that a group intervention may enhance the quality of infant-mother attachment. Nevertheless, because the study design was not randomized, the results of this study remain preliminary and need replication in a full randomized controlled trial designed study.

KW - Education

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Infant, Newborn

KW - Longitudinal Studies

KW - Male

KW - Mother-Child Relations

KW - National Health Programs

KW - Object Attachment

KW - Personality Assessment

KW - Pregnancy

KW - Psychotherapy, Group

KW - Spain

U2 - 10.5209/rev_SJOP.2011.v14.n2.11

DO - 10.5209/rev_SJOP.2011.v14.n2.11

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22059309

VL - 14

SP - 630

EP - 638

JO - Spanish Journal of Psychology

JF - Spanish Journal of Psychology

SN - 1138-7416

IS - 2

ER -