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Increasing secure base script knowledge among parents with Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up

K Lee Raby1, Theodore E A Waters2, Alexandra R Tabachnick3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.

Development and Psychopathology
|January 25, 2021
PubMed

Insights

The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) intervention improved parenting skills, specifically secure base script knowledge, for parents referred to Child Protective Services (CPS). This enhancement was linked to increased parental sensitivity years later.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Welfare
  • Parenting Interventions

Background:

  • Child maltreatment risk necessitates interventions to support vulnerable families.
  • Parenting interventions aim to improve parent-child interactions and attachment.
  • Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is a program designed to enhance parenting.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the long-term effects of the ABC intervention on parents' attachment representations.
  • To assess if ABC improves secure base script knowledge in parents referred to Child Protective Services (CPS).
  • To examine the relationship between secure base script knowledge and parental sensitivity.

Main Methods:

  • Randomized controlled trial comparing ABC intervention to a control group.
  • Longitudinal assessment of parents (average age 34.2) approximately 7 years post-intervention.
  • Measurement of secure base script knowledge and parental sensitivity in interactions with 8-year-old children.

Main Results:

  • Parents receiving the ABC intervention showed greater secure base script knowledge than control CPS-referred parents.
  • ABC-treated CPS-referred parents had similar secure base script knowledge to low-risk parents.
  • Secure base script knowledge positively correlated with parental sensitivity, mediating the ABC intervention's effect on sensitivity.

Conclusions:

  • The ABC parenting intervention has lasting positive effects on parents' understanding of secure attachment.
  • ABC intervention indirectly enhances parental sensitivity through improved secure base script knowledge.
  • Findings support the long-term efficacy of the ABC intervention for at-risk families.

Keywords:
attachment representationsearly interventionparental sensitivity

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