Emotional availability (EA): Theoretical background, empirical research using the EA Scales, and clinical applications

Biringen, Zeynep; Derscheid, Della; Vliegen, Nicole; Closson, Lia; Easterbrooks, M. Ann

doi:10.1016/j.dr.2014.01.002

Cited by 319 publications

(560 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…The construct of maternal emotional availability (EA) has been developed to measure the emotional quality of the mother-child interaction from infancy to late childhood [1]. Based on the attachment theoretical assumption that the quality of a child's experiences with his caregiver affects his development [2,3], maternal EA has been shown to be related to diverse domains of child development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Emotional Availability and Its Association with Maternal Psychopathology, Attachment Style Insecurity and Theory of Mind

Licata¹,

Zietlow

Träuble

et al. 2016

Psychopathology

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Background/Aims: High maternal emotional availability (EA) positively affects various domains of child development. However, the question of which factors promote or hinder maternal EA has not been investigated systematically. The present study investigated several maternal characteristics, namely maternal psychopathology, maternal attachment style insecurity, and theory of mind (ToM) as possible factors that influence maternal EA. Methods: The sample was comprised of 56 mothers and their preschool-aged children. Half of the mothers were diagnosed with postpartum depression and or anxiety disorders according to DSM-IV, and the other half were healthy controls. Results: The results showed that both low maternal attachment style insecurity and high ToM skills significantly predicted maternal EA sensitivity, independently from maternal postpartum and concurrent psychopathology and education. Moreover, maternal attachment style insecurity fully mediated the link between maternal postpartum psychopathology and sensitivity. Conclusion: The findings suggest that maternal attachment style security can buffer negative effects of maternal psychopathology on maternal sensitivity in the mother-child interaction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Emotional Availability and Its Association with Maternal Psychopathology, Attachment Style Insecurity and Theory of Mind

Licata¹,

Zietlow

Träuble

et al. 2016

Psychopathology

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“…Connect and shape is consistent with responsive parenting and emotional availability (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978;Biringen, Derscheid, Vliegen, Closson, & Easterbrooks, 2014;Eshel, Daelmans, Cabral de Mello, & Martines, 2006). The parent remains within sensory distance and clearly communicates his or her emotional availability in response to their child's cues.…”

Section: Key Features Of Connect and Shapementioning

confidence: 77%

“…Connect and shape includes parental scaffolding, that is, the parent provides guidance, support and encouragement in order to enable their child to perform behaviors that their child is currently incapable of performing alone, in a manner that is sensitive to the ongoing development of their child (Biringen et al, 2014;Clark, Menna, & Mansel, 2012).…”

Section: Key Features Of Connect and Shapementioning

confidence: 99%

Connect and shape: A parenting meta-strategy

Whittingham

2015

Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science

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“…The EAS is a set of scale designed to assess the ability of parents and child to share a healthy emotional connection, therefore addressing the adults and the child relationships [27]. An innnovative and essencial outcome will be evaluate if parents can learn how to support their child’s development of motor and cognitive processes by receiving specialized and multidisciplinary skills training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early intervention program for very low birth weight preterm infants and their parents: a study protocol

et al. 2018

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BackgroundPreterm infants are high risk for delayed neurodevelopment. The main goal is to develop a program of early intervention for very preterm infants that allows families to apply it continuously at home, and quantify the results of early parental stimulation on improvement of cognition and motor skills.MethodsRandomized clinical Trial including inborn preterm infants with gestational age less than 32 weeks or birth weight less than 1500 g at 48 h after birth. Eligible for begin the intervention up to 7 days after birth. Study Protocol approved by the Brazilian national Committee of ethics in Research and by the institutional ethics committee.Intervention group (IG): skin-to skin care by mother (kangaroo care) plus tactile-kinesthetic stimulation by mothers from randomization until hospital discharge when they receive a program of early intervention with 10 parents’ orientation and a total of 10 home visits independently of the standard evaluation and care that will be performed. Systematic early intervention program will be according to developmental milestones, anticipating in a month evolutionary step acquisition of motor and / or cognitive expected for corrected age. Active comparator with a Conventional Group (CG): standard care according to the routine care of the NICU and their needs in the follow up program. Neurodevelopment outcome with blinded evaluations in both groups between 12 and 18 months by Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development third edition and Alberta Motor Infant scale will be performed. All evaluations will be conducted in the presence of parents or caregivers in a safe room for the child move around during the evaluation.DiscussionIf we can show that a continuous and global early intervention at home performed by low income families is better than the standard care for very preterm infants, this kind of program may be applied elsewhere in the world. We received grants by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DECIT, Cnpq and Health Ministry. Grand Challenges Brazil: All Children Thriving.Trial registrationThe study was restrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. in July 15 2016 (NCT02835612).

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Emotional availability (EA): Theoretical background, empirical research using the EA Scales, and clinical applications

Cited by 319 publications

References 129 publications

Maternal Emotional Availability and Its Association with Maternal Psychopathology, Attachment Style Insecurity and Theory of Mind

Maternal Emotional Availability and Its Association with Maternal Psychopathology, Attachment Style Insecurity and Theory of Mind

Connect and shape: A parenting meta-strategy

Early intervention program for very low birth weight preterm infants and their parents: a study protocol

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