Assessing Changes in Parent Sensitivity in Telehealth and Hybrid Implementation of Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, home visiting services for families with young children pivoted to continue providing services virtually. One such service was Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), a brief prevention/intervention program targeting increased parental sensitivity. Seventy families participated in a sensitivity assessment before and after receiving ABC. Forty-three families received the program fully through telehealth, and twenty-seven families received the program through an in-person/telehealth hybrid format. Parent sensitivity was assessed pre- and post-intervention, and results suggested that when ABC was delivered through a telehealth or hybrid format, parents showed increased following the lead and decreased intrusiveness from pre- to post-intervention, with moderate effect sizes. Ongoing supervision in the model, weekly fidelity maintenance checks, and the flexibility of families and parent coaches likely contributed to the maintenance of significant change in parental sensitivity from pre- to post-intervention during the move from face-to-face home visiting to the provision of virtual services.

Effects of an attachment‐based intervention on autonomic regulation among opioid‐exposed infants

“…Patterns of autonomic reactivity were similar across home and lab settings (Tabachnick et al, 2022), and community data suggest that intervention fidelity and effects on parenting were maintained in the transition to telehealth (Roben et al, 2022;Schein et al, 2022). Further information regarding RCT enrollment and attrition is provided in Supplement 1.…”

“…Data collection continued with remote assessment only (e.g., interviews by Zoom) until mid‐July 2020, when in‐person data collection resumed on a limited basis, with some families electing remote‐only or home assessments with virtual researcher support. Patterns of autonomic reactivity were similar across home and lab settings (Tabachnick et al., 2022), and community data suggest that intervention fidelity and effects on parenting were maintained in the transition to telehealth (Roben et al., 2022; Schein et al., 2022). Further information regarding RCT enrollment and attrition is provided in Supplement 1.…”

The positive role of parental attachment and communication in Chinese adolescents' health behavior and mental health during COVID‐19

“…Prior intervention studies have demonstrated that attachment‐based intervention may reduce adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems (Moretti et al, 2015 ; Ozturk et al, 2019 ). Although COVID‐19 restrictions may present difficulties for the implementation of interventions, recent research suggests that attachment‐based intervention using remote or hybrid methods can be effective during the pandemic (Levy et al, 2021 ; Schein et al, 2022 ). In addition, the current research highlights the effectiveness and necessity of COVID‐19 communication between parents and adolescents that interventions and policy recommendations should take into consideration.…”

The impact of the “Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch‐Up” program on attachment related parent behavior—A systematic review

“…In this context, ABC may be considered a valuable intervention for improving attachment related parent outcomes and consequently a range of child related outcomes among the most vulnerable groups, with Schein et al. (2022) recently highlighting the potential of ABC as a telehealth or hybrid model of intervention, that can adapt to today's changing model of healthcare delivery. Although variability in which attachment related parent outcomes were significantly affected by the ABC intervention was noted, it appeared that all the included studies in this review reach something of a consensus ‐ the ABC intervention positively impacts attachment related parent outcomes.…”

“…These effects remained significant at 2 years follow-up. More recently Schein et al (2022) found that when facilitated via telehealth, both exclusively and mixed with face-toface sessions, the ABC intervention was associated with increased parental sensitivity post-intervention highlighting its potential effectiveness in today's changing model of healthcare delivery.…”