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Behavioral Parent Training in Infancy: What About the Parent-Infant Relationship?
Angela M Blizzard1, Nicole E Barroso1, Francisco G Ramos1
1a Department of Psychology , Florida International University.
Insights
Behavioral parent training (BPT) improved infant caregiving, enhancing sensitivity and warmth. These improvements, particularly in parenting skills, were sustained for six months, benefiting early child development.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Behavioral parent training (BPT) and attachment interventions are effective for young children.
- Literature on BPT and attachment interventions has evolved separately, especially in outcome measurement.
- Parent-child interaction is crucial during the infant to toddler transition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the impact of the Infant Behavior Program (IBP), a brief home-based BPT adaptation, on attachment-based caregiving behaviors.
- To assess changes in maternal sensitivity, warmth, and intrusiveness.
- To explore the mediating role of parenting skills in the intervention's effect on caregiving behaviors.
Main Methods:
- Sixty mother-infant dyads were randomly assigned to the IBP or standard care.
- Attachment-based caregiving behaviors were assessed during videotaped infant-led play.
- Bivariate correlations and structural equation modeling were used to analyze data.
Main Results:
- The IBP directly improved maternal warmth and sensitivity postintervention and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.
- Improvements in parenting skills at postintervention mediated the intervention's effect on warmth and sensitivity at later follow-ups.
- Behaviorally based parenting skills were moderately correlated with attachment-based caregiving behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral parent training programs, like the IBP, can enhance crucial attachment-based caregiving behaviors.
- Targeted parenting skills in BPT have a lasting impact on sensitive and warm caregiving.
- Findings support the integration of behaviorally based skills into interventions promoting secure attachment.
Abstract:
Behavioral parent training (BPT) and attachment interventions have demonstrated efficacy in improving outcomes for young children. Despite theoretical overlap in these approaches, the literature has evolved separately, particularly with respect to outcome measurement in BPT. We examined the impact of the Infant Behavior Program (IBP), a brief home-based adaptation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, on changes in attachment-based caregiving behaviors (sensitivity, warmth, and intrusiveness) at postintervention and 3- and 6-month follow-ups during a videotaped infant-led play. Sixty mother-infant dyads were randomly assigned to receive the IBP (n = 28) or standard care (n = 30). Infants were an average age of 13.52 months and predominately from ethnic or racial minority backgrounds (98%). We used bivariate correlations to examine the association between attachment-based caregiving behaviors and behaviorally based parenting do and don't skills and structural equation modeling to examine the direct effect of the IBP on attachment-based caregiving behaviors and the indirect effect of behaviorally based parenting skills on the relation between intervention group and attachment-based caregiving behaviors. Behaviorally based parenting do and don't skills were moderately correlated with attachment-based caregiving behaviors. Results demonstrated a direct effect of the IBP on warmth and sensitivity at postintervention and 3- and 6-month follow-ups. The direct effect of the IBP on warmth and sensitivity at the 3- and 6-month follow-ups was mediated by increases in parenting do skills at postintervention. Findings suggest that behaviorally based parenting skills targeted in BPT programs have a broader impact on important attachment-based caregiving behaviors during the critical developmental transition from infancy to toddlerhood.