Enhancing the language development of toddlers in foster care by promoting foster parents’ sensitivity: Results from a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01261806.

Sustained effects on attachment security in middle childhood: results from a randomized clinical trial of the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up (ABC) intervention

“…These findings are consistent with a larger body of work demonstrating positive effects of ABC on child outcomes across a range of domains (e.g., Bernard et al, ; Bick et al, ; Dozier & Bernard, ; Grube & Liming, ; Lind, Raby, Caron, Roben, & Dozier, ; Raby et al, ; Tabachnick, Raby, Goldstein, Zajac, & Dozier, ). In addition to promoting secure and organized attachments during infancy (Bernard et al, ), ABC is effective in reducing children's expression of negative affect (Lind, Bernard, Ross, & Dozier, ) and enhancing executive functioning (Lind et al, ), physiological regulation (Bernard, Hostinar, & Dozier, ), and receptive vocabulary (Raby et al, ) in early childhood for children involved in the child welfare system. During middle childhood, ABC has been shown to positively affect physiological regulation (Tabachnick et al, ) and brain development (Bick et al, ).…”

“…Positive effects of ABC have been observed in samples of children who have experienced other forms of adversity, including institutionalization and removal from birth parents' homes (see Dozier & Bernard, for a review). For example, ABC has been shown to promote vocabulary among children in foster care (Bernard, Lee, & Dozier, ), and these effects are mediated by changes in parental sensitivity (Raby, Freedman, Yarger, Lind, & Dozier, ). Future research might also examine whether ABC effects on attachment outcomes are observed among parents and when using other measures of attachment among children, including measures that capture disorganized attachment patterns in addition to insecure ones.…”

Parenting Behavior and Child Language: A Meta-analysis

“…102,103 Sensitive responsiveness is a modifiable risk factor that has been successfully trained in parents in randomized controlled trials and shown to improve the language development of children. 25,58,[91][92][93] Thus, the demonstration of a significant association between sensitive responsiveness and children's language coupled with the evidence from randomized controlled trials on improving parental responsiveness suggests the importance of addressing this skill in parents, particularly in economically disadvantaged families.…”

“…First and foremost, meta-analyses of observational studies are correlational in nature and thus do not permit conclusions about causality. Conclusions about causality can only be made in the context of experimental studies, 58,[91][92][93] and approximations of causality may be derived from longitudinal designs that address directionality and temporal precedence. 94 Second, these meta-analysis focused on typically developing samples, and thus, findings are not generalizable to children with language delay, intellectual disability, autism, and/or hearing or vision difficulties.…”

Changes in provider Fidelity after introducing a new model of intervention

“…The ABC-T model has also been efficacious in improving both child and parent outcomes. In two studies conducted using randomized clinical trials with children in foster care, ABC-T was found to enhance executive functioning capabilities, reduce attention problems, (Lind et al 2017) and increase receptive vocabulary abilities (Raby et al 2018). Parents who received ABC-T also demonstrated increased sensitivity to their children from pre-to post-intervention (Raby et al 2018).…”