Effects of an attachment-based intervention in infancy on children’s autonomic regulation during middle childhood

Tabachnick, Alexandra R.; Raby, K. Lee; Goldstein, A; Zajac, Lindsay; Dozier, Mary

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.01.006

Cited by 42 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…The intervention focuses on improving parental sensitivity, responsivity, and other environmental inputs to children's developing stress physiology. In a series of randomized controlled trials, children who received ABC were shown to demonstrate more adaptive regulatory activity within the ANS (Tabachnick, Raby, Goldstein, Zajac, & Dozier, 2019) and HPA axis (Bernard, Dozier, Bick, & Gordon, 2015;Bernard, Hostinar, & Dozier, 2015), as well as more normative patterns of neural functioning (Bick, Palmwood, Zajac, Simons, & Dozier, 2019) compared to children in a control condition.…”

Section: Intervention/ Reversibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing a Neurobiological Perspective to Resilience

Bush¹,

Roubinov²

2021

Multisystemic Resilience

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Although the concept of resilience has been widely studied across a range of academic disciplines, examinations have typically focused upon psychosocial correlates and contributors. Fueled by progress in our understanding of the brain and complex biological processes (and recognition that domains of psychological and biological functioning are not easily dichotomized), an emerging science of neurobiological resilience has emerged. In this chapter, the authors describe extant work that has examined biological factors that may promote resilience among adversity-exposed populations and biomarkers that can serve as indicators of risk or resilience. They highlight the complexities that emerge when considering biological factors that not only operate across a range of internal bodily systems, but also interact with the multiple external systems within which an individual develops (e.g., family, school, neighborhood, etc.). They conclude with a set of principles to guide future studies and advance a more integrated resilience science.

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Section: Intervention/ Reversibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing a Neurobiological Perspective to Resilience

Bush¹,

Roubinov²

2021

Multisystemic Resilience

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“…An important question for future research is whether the effects of the ABC intervention on HPA axis regulation are sustained over time for internationally adopted children. ABC has been shown to have fairly long-term effects on the biological outcomes of children from CPS-referred families (Bernard et al, 2015b; Bick, Palmwood, Zajac, Simons, & Dozier, 2019; Tabachnick, Raby, Goldstein, Zajac, & Dozier, 2019; see also Zajac et al, 2020). In addition, ABC's effects on parenting have been observed to persist for at least 2 years for parents who adopted internationally (Yarger et al, 2019a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing diurnal cortisol regulation among young children adopted internationally: A randomized controlled trial of a parenting-based intervention

et al. 2020

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Children who have been adopted internationally commonly experience institutional care and other forms of adversity prior to adoption that can alter the functioning of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. In particular, internationally adopted children tend to have blunted diurnal declines compared to children raised in their birth families. The Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) intervention was developed to enhance young children's biological and behavioral regulation by promoting sensitive parenting. The current study used a randomized controlled trial to assess whether ABC improved the diurnal functioning of the HPA axis among 85 children who had been adopted internationally when they were between the ages of 4 and 33 months (M = 16.12). Prior to the intervention, there were no significant differences in diurnal cortisol production between children whose parents were randomly assigned to receive ABC and children whose parents were randomly assigned to receive a control intervention. After the intervention, children whose parents had received the ABC intervention exhibited steeper declines in cortisol levels throughout the day than children whose parents had received the control intervention. These results indicate that the ABC intervention is effective in enhancing a healthy pattern of diurnal HPA axis regulation for young children who have been adopted internationally.

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“…Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up is associated with a wide variety of behavioral and biological outcomes. When compared with a control intervention, the children whose parents received ABC exhibited more normative patterns of diurnal cortisol production, neural activity, and autonomic nervous system functioning (Bernard et al, 2015; Bick et al, 2019; Tabachnick et al, 2019). This broad array of outcomes suggests that fundamental biological functions, such as cell-signaling, cell adhesion, and neuronal development may be affected by the intervention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been shown to persist for at least 3 years after having received the intervention (Bernard, Hostinar, & Dozier, 2015). In middle childhood, children whose parents received ABC in infancy exhibited differential neural activity and autonomic nervous system functioning compared with those who received a control intervention (Bick, Palmwood, Zajac, Simons, & Dozier, 2019; Tabachnick, Raby, Goldstein, Zajac, & Dozier, 2019). In summary, ABC is efficacious in altering children's attachment, socioemotional regulation, and biology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary indications that the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up Intervention alters DNA methylation in maltreated children

et al. 2019

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Maltreatment during development is associated with epigenetic changes to the genome. Enhancing caregiving may mitigate these effects. Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) is an intervention that has been shown to improve parent–child relationships and a variety of biological and behavioral outcomes among children that are involved in Child Protective Services. This preliminary study, using a small sample size, explored whether children who received ABC exhibit different methylation patterns than those who received a control intervention. The participants included 23 children aged 6–21 months who were randomized to receive ABC (n = 12) or a control intervention (n = 11). While the children displayed similar methylation patterns preintervention, DNA methylation varied between the ABC and control groups at 14,828 sites postintervention. Functional pathway analyses indicated that these differences were associated with gene pathways that are involved in cell signaling, metabolism, and neuronal development. This study is one of the first to explore parenting intervention effects on children's DNA methylation at the whole genome level in infancy. These preliminary findings provide a basis for hypothesis generation in further research with larger-scale studies regarding the malleability of epigenetic states that are associated with maltreatment.

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Effects of an attachment-based intervention in infancy on children’s autonomic regulation during middle childhood

Cited by 42 publications

References 68 publications

Bringing a Neurobiological Perspective to Resilience

Bringing a Neurobiological Perspective to Resilience

Enhancing diurnal cortisol regulation among young children adopted internationally: A randomized controlled trial of a parenting-based intervention

Preliminary indications that the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up Intervention alters DNA methylation in maltreated children

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