Testing an Attachment-Based Parenting Intervention-VIPP-FC/A in Adoptive Families with Post-institutionalized Children: Do Maternal Sensitivity and Genetic Markers Count?

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a newly integrated version of an intervention targeting adoptive mothers’ positive parenting for promoting children’s emotional availability, by testing the moderating role of both two maternal genetic polymorphisms (i.e., 5HTTLPR and DRD4-VNTR) and emotional availability-EA on intervention outcomes. Mothers with their children (N = 80; Mage = 42.73 years, SD = 3.79; Mage = 33.18 months, SD = 16.83 months) participated in a RCT testing the Video-Feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline-VIPP-FC/A effectiveness. Mixed effects regression models showed a significant improvement in mother–child EA for the VIPP-intervention vs. the dummy intervention condition, with a moderating role of maternal EA on children’s outcomes. No significant moderating effect was found for the two genetic polymorphisms inquired. Children’s and mother’s outcomes obtained are discussed.

The key role of positive parenting and children’s temperament in post‐institutionalized children’s socio‐emotional adjustment after adoption placement. A RCT study

“…Among the distal variables, the child's age at adoption and length of institutionalization have been extensively explored with mixed outcomes (Niemann & Weiss, 2012;van den Dries, Juffer, van IJzendoorn, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2009), and effects ranging from moderate to trivial (see, e.g., Niemann & Weiss, 2012;O'Connor, Rutter, & English and Romanian Adoptees Study Team, 2000;van den Dries et al, 2009). Considering more proximal variables, robust evidence supports the finding that parental sensitivity in caregiving (commonly named positive parenting), is among the main factors affecting children's socio-emotional enhancement (Barone, Barone, Dellagiulia, & Lionetti, 2018;Drozd, Bergsund, Hammerstrøm, Hansen, & Jacobsen, 2018;Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2005). Interestingly, the evidence that children's positive emotional and behavioral development is fostered by maternal sensitivity has been extensively supported by intervention studies aimed at improving maternal sensitivity and involving children biologically related to their parents.…”

“…The moderating role of negative affect on outcomes is in line with the theoretical assumption that specific children, due to individual temperamental features which reflect increased susceptibility to environmental influences, are more likely to benefit from the influence of their rearing environment (Belsky & Pluess, ; Slagt et al, ) and of improved environmental conditions, such as psychological and/or educational interventions (de Villiers, Lionetti, & Pluess, ). If maternal emotional availability is able to advance through an effective intervention (Barone et al, ), this could play a pivotal role especially for those children who are considered temperamentally difficult children.…”

“…A total of 103 adoptive children and their mothers, who were part of a multisite study conducted in Italy , were assessed for eligibility (a partial database overlap for EA measures can be found with data reported in Barone et al, paper) . The recruitment took place through adoption services.…”

“…In light of the aforementioned aims, we hypothesized that: Based on previous VIPP effectiveness studies on maternal positive parenting increase in the context of adoption (Barone et al, ) we expect that, regardless of children’s age at adoption and gender, children belonging to the intervention group would show a greater recovery in emotional availability, indiscriminate friendliness, and externalizing behavioral problems than children belonging to the control group, along the three time points tested. Maternal positive parenting would mediate the relation between the mothers’ intervention attendance and the children’s socio‐emotional outcomes (i.e., emotional availability, externalizing behavioral problems, and indiscriminate friendliness). Specifically, at intervention completion, participating mothers who received VIPP‐FC/A were expected to show a significant improvement in their emotional availability which, in turn, is expected to promote an increase in the children’s socio‐emotional outcomes at 6‐month follow‐up. Based on differential susceptibility model (Belsky, ; Boyce & Ellis, ), we expect that the children’s temperament (i.e., negative affect) would moderate the mediating effect of maternal emotional availability on children’s outcomes.…”

“…The Video‐feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting in Adoption and Foster Care (VIPP‐FC/A) is a home‐visiting intervention that has been recently developed at the Leiden Centre for Family Studies (NL) as an extension of the already widely tested Video‐feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP‐SD; Juffer, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, ). Interestingly, the first available empirical evidence suggested that the VIPP‐FC/A version is effective in significantly increasing positive parenting in adoptive families (Barone et al, ). Given this outcome, its implementation represents a suitable means for experimentally manipulating and investigating through a RCT design the effect of a proximal variable, such as the quality of parenting, on adopted children’s socio‐emotional adjustment.…”