MATERNAL SENSITIVITY AND ATTACHMENT BASED INTERVENTION EFFECTIVENESS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Back to Page Authors: Claire Baudry, George Tarabulsy, Jessica Pearon, Jean Pascal Lemelin, Tristan Millot

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Keywords: maternal sensitivity, Intervention, attachement, vulnerable families

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Abstract: Introduction: Over the last decade, researchers have implemented attachment-based interventions to promote parental interactive sensitivity and child development among vulnerable families. These interventions have been shown to be effective to enhance maternal sensitivity when measured shortly after the intervention. Objectives: The goal of the study was to investigate the effects of an attachment-based intervention on maternal sensitivity one-year post-intervention. Methods: Over the seventy-two mother-child dyads referred by Child Protective Services in the province of Québec, Canada, forty-two were included in this study: 24 dyads who received 6 to 8 intervention sessions and 18 dyads not exposed to the intervention and matched for the following variables: duration of child protective services, reason for involvement with child protection, age, sex, and family status. Maternal sensitivity was measured 12 months after the end of the intervention when the average age of children was respectively 54 months old. Findings: Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare scores between the two groups. In general, no difference was observed between the two groups 12 months after the end of the intervention. Conclusions: This first set of analyses suggest that the effects of attachment-based intervention observed 3 months following the intervention may not remain on maternal behaviors 12-months post-intervention. Those results inform us of the importance of considering the possibility to offer more attachment-based intervention sessions for those vulnerable families to positively impact their lives.

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