Early parenting intervention accelerates inhibitory control development among CPS-involved children in middle...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Intervention Science

Background:

• Children exposed to neglect or abuse face risks for delayed inhibitory control development.
• Early parenting interventions targeting parental sensitivity can improve executive function in at-risk children during preschool.
• Long-term persistence of these intervention effects into middle childhood is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the long-term effects of the ABC parenting intervention on inhibitory control in children with a history of early caregiving adversity.
• To examine the persistence of intervention-induced gains in executive function from preschool into middle childhood.

Main Methods:

• 76 children involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) were randomly assigned to the ABC intervention or a control (Developmental Education for Families - DEF).
• 53 low-risk children served as a comparison group.
• Inhibitory control was assessed using the Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT) paradigm at ages 8 and 10.

Main Results:

• At age 8, children in the ABC intervention and the low-risk group performed significantly better on the SSRT compared to the DEF control group (Cohen's d = 0.92 and d = 0.56, respectively).
• The performance of the ABC and low-risk groups was statistically equivalent at age 8.
• No significant group differences in SSRT performance were observed at age 10.

Conclusions:

• The ABC intervention demonstrates long-term beneficial effects on inhibitory control development in children with early caregiving adversity.
• While initial gains were evident through age 8, the differences in inhibitory control between intervention and control groups diminished by age 10.
• These findings highlight the sustained positive impact of early, sensitive parenting interventions on crucial executive functions.