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The Efficacy of Brief Parent-Infant Psychotherapy for Treating Early Regulatory Disorders: A Randomized Controlled

Anna Katharina Georg1, Manfred Cierpka2, Paul Schröder-Pfeifer1

  • 1Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany; Ruprecht Karl University Heidelberg, Germany.

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|September 25, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Brief psychodynamic-based focused parent-infant psychotherapy (fPIP) effectively treats early regulatory disorders (ERD) in infants and reduces maternal distress. This therapy significantly improved infant symptoms and maternal psychological well-being compared to standard care.

Area of Science:

  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Family Therapy

Background:

  • Early regulatory disorders (ERD) significantly impact parent-infant relationships and parental mental health.
  • ERD encompasses conditions like excessive crying, sleep, feeding, and sensory processing disorders.
  • Parental distress and depression are common comorbidities in parents of infants with ERD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of a brief, 4-session psychodynamic-based focused parent-infant psychotherapy (fPIP) for treating ERD.
  • To compare the effectiveness of fPIP against standard pediatric care (treatment as usual [TAU]).
  • To assess the impact of fPIP on infant regulatory symptoms and parental psychological outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial involving 154 mothers and infants (4-15 months) diagnosed with ERD.
  • Participants were randomly assigned to either fPIP or TAU.
  • Assessments of infant regulatory symptoms and parental psychological distress were conducted at baseline and after 12 weeks.

Main Results:

  • fPIP demonstrated superior efficacy over TAU in reducing infants' overall regulatory symptoms (p = .004) and night-waking disorders (OR = 3.12).
  • Mothers receiving fPIP reported significantly lower psychological distress (p = .000) and depression (p = .002).
  • A positive trend was observed for increased maternal self-efficacy and parental reflective functioning in the fPIP group.

Conclusions:

  • Brief fPIP is an effective intervention for reducing symptoms in infants with ERD and alleviating maternal psychological distress.
  • The findings support the use of fPIP as a valuable treatment option for early regulatory disorders.
  • Generalizability is noted for low psychosocial risk samples with highly distressed mothers and predominant night-waking disorders.
Abstract

Keywords:
early regulatory disordersinfant mental healthparenting interventionsparent–infant psychotherapypsychodynamic therapy

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