This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
Child Welfare Outcomes: Child/family well-being
Type of Maltreatment: Physical neglect
Target Population: Foster parents of infants
Brief Description:
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Parent Training.ABC targets several key issues that have been identified as problematic among children who have experienced early maltreatment and/or disruptions in care. These young children often behave in ways that push caregivers away. The first intervention component helps caregivers to re-interpret children's behavioral signals so that they provide nurturance even when it is not elicited. Nurturance does not come naturally to many caregivers, but children who have experienced early adversity especially need nurturing care. Thus, the second intervention component helps caregivers provide nurturing care even if it does not come naturally. Third, many children who have experienced early adversity are dysregulated behaviorally and biologically. The third intervention component helps caregivers provide a responsive, predictable environment that enhances young children's behavioral and regulatory capabilities.
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Three key, empirically defined issues are targeted through sessions that rely on video-feedback and homework. These issues include the following:
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was not designed to be conducted in a group.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) has not been tested for use in a group setting.
Recommended intensity: Weekly one-hour sessions
Recommended duration: 10 sessions
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) includes a homework component.
Description: Parents make observations over the week and record observations. For most weeks, daily activities are suggested.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is typically conducted in a(n): Adoptive Home, Birth Family Home, and Foster Home.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was designed with a Parent Component.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Parents’ difficulty in providing nurturance, parents’ own history of care that may interfere with parenting
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was designed with a Child Component.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Children’s pushing caregivers away, children’s behavioral and biological dysregulation
Age range(s): 0-5
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was not developed for children with developmental delays.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) has not been tested for children with developmental delays.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was not designed for specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) was not tested in specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
There is a manual that describes how to implement this program.
There is training available for Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC).
Training contact: Mary Dozier, mdozier@udel.edu
Number of days/hours: 5 days training followed by 1 year supervision (weekly – 52 hours)
Training is obtained: Training at University of Delaware with Supervision through videoconferencing
There currently are not additional qualified resources for training.
The typical resources for implementing Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) are: A/V: Laptop computer, videocamera, webcam.
Personnel: Clinician with excellent interpersonal skills.
Space: Can be conducted at parents’ homes.
No specific training or educational requirements for practitioners
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catchup (ABC) was given the scientific rating of is rated a "3 – Promising Research Evidence" on the Scientific Rating Scale based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The practice must have at least one study utilizing some form of control (e.g., untreated group, placebo group, matched wait list) establishing the practice's efficacy over the placebo, or found it to be comparable to or better than an appropriate comparison practice. For more information on the rating of a “3 – Promising Research Evidence,” please see the Scientific Rating Scale.
Dozier, M., Peloso, E., Lindheim, O., Gordon, M.K., Manni, M., Sepulveda, S., & Ackerman (2006). Developing evidence-based interventions for foster children: An example of a randomized clinical trial with infants and toddlers. Journal of Social Issues, 62(4), 767-785.
Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of participants: 60, plus 104 comparison children not in foster care.
Population:
Location/Institution: Mid-Atlantic, U.S.
Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations) Children and caregivers were randomly assigned to receive either the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catchup (ABC) intervention or a control intervention, Developmental Education for Families (DEF), which focused on cognitive and language development. Salivary cortisol was used as a measure of stress level in children and infants. Parents also reported on problem behaviors using the pre-school or infant/toddler Parent's Daily Report (PDR/IT). Post-intervention cortisol levels were significantly lower for the ABC group than for the DEF group. The levels for children in the ABC group also did not differ from those of the normally developing group at the follow-up. Parents in the ABC group reported few problem behaviors for toddlers than for infants, but the ABC and DEF groups did not differ from each other on this measure.
Length of post-intervention follow-up: 1 month
Dozier, M., Peloso, E., Lewis, E., Laurenceau, J., & Levine, S. (in press). Effects of an attachment based intervention on the cortisol production of infants and toddlers in foster care. Development and Psychopathology.
Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of participants: 93, plus 48 children not in foster care.
Population:
Location/Institution: University of Delaware
Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations) Children and foster parents were randomly assigned to receive with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catchup (ABC) intervention or to a comparison group which received the Developmental Education for Families (DEF) program which focuses on cognitive and language development. Stress was measured before and after exposure to the Strange Situation, a structured observational session which is designed to assess attachment level in young children. Salivary cortisol was used as the measure of stress level. Initial cortisol levels were higher for the DEF group than the ABC group, suggested a higher initial stress level. The initial cortisol levels of the ABC group did not differ from those of a comparison group of children from the general population. Measures of cortisol taken at subsequent points did not show any increase in cortisol levels in response to the Strange Situation for either treatment group, which is consistent with current research suggesting that children may experience a period of reduced cortisol response to stress. The authors suggest that collecting saliva samples prior to arrival at the laboratory might have produced a more accurate assessment of baseline levels of cortisol.
Length of post-intervention follow-up: None
Dozier, M., Brohawn, D., Lindheim, O., Perkins, E., & Peloso, E. (in press). Effects of a foster parent training program on young children's attachment behaviors: Preliminary evidence from a randomized clinical trial. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal.
Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial.
Number of participants: 46
Population:
Location/Institution: Unknown
Summary: (To include comparison groups, outcomes, measures, notable limitations) Children and foster parents were randomly assigned to either a group which received the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catchup (ABC) intervention or to a comparison group which received the Developmental Education for Families (DEF) program which focuses on cognitive and language development. Parents kept diaries of attachment related behavior (e.g., help-seeking behaviors) by children, their own behavioral response and infants' response to foster parents' behavior for a period of 3 days. Diaries were coded for proximity seeking, contact maintenance and successful calming to yield a score for secure. Also coded were avoidant behaviors including child anger, and inability to be soothed. Children in the ABC intervention condition had lower levels of avoidance than children in the DEF group. The two groups did not differ on security scores.
Length of post-intervention follow-up: None
Dozier, M., Dozier, D. & Manni, M. (2002). Recognizing the special needs of infants' and toddlers' foster parents: Development of a relational intervention. Zero to Three Bulletin, 22, 7-13.
Lewis, E., Dozier, M., Knights, M., & Maier, M. (In press). Intervening with foster infants' foster parents: Attachment and biobehavioral catch-up. In R. E. Lee & J. Whiting (Eds.), Handbook of relational therapy for foster children and their families. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Dozier, M., Lindhiem, O., & Ackerman, J. (2005). Attachment and biobehavioral catch-up. In L. Berlin, Y. Ziv, L. Amaya-Jackson, & M. T. Greenberg (Eds.), Enhancing early attachments. New York: Guilford (pp. 178-194).
Contact name: Mary Dozier, Ph.D.
Affiliation/Agency: University of Delaware
Email: mdozier@psych.udel.edu
Phone: 302-831-8801
Fax: 302-831-3645