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

Abstract

Parenting interventions represent a means for experimentally inquiring socio‐emotional change of post‐institutionalized children after adoption. We used this approach in a three time point RCT study involving 83 post‐institutionalized children (Mage = 33.5 months, SD = 17.1) and their adoptive mothers (Mage = 42.6, SD = 3.9), attending either the Video‐Feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting in adoption and foster care or a dummy intervention. Controlling for gender and age at adoption, children showed a significant change in their socio‐emotional adjustment in the specific variables inquired—that is, emotional availability‐EA, and behavioral problems—after intervention attendance. Mediation and moderated mediation models showed that maternal EA was a main factor affecting children’s EA and externalizing behavioral problems, with a key moderating role played by children’s temperament; children with high scores on temperamental negative affect benefitted most from their mothers’ increase in EA.

Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issues

“…Widespread overuse of attachment disorder diagnoses, as well as overuse of the term "attachment disorder" in the absence of diagnosis, have been documented (Allen & Schuengel, 2020;Woolgar & Baldock, 2015). For the vast majority of children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, symptoms disappear when placed in a stable caregiving environment that enables development of selective attachment relationships (Smyke et al, 2012), and which support caregivers' emotional availability (Barone et al, 2019). It should be noted that "attachment therapies" for attachment disorders are circulating, which are claimed to be effective but actually have no scientific evidence-base (Allen, 2018;Chaffin et al, 2006;Mercer, 2019).…”

Adoption in the service of child protection: An international interdisciplinary perspective.

“…In response to this need, a number of post-graduate training programs, as well as online training courses, have been developed, both in the U.S. and parts of Europe (e.g., Atkinson & Riley, 2017). Research into evidence-based adoption interventions is now ADOPTION IN THE SERVICE OF CHILD PROTECTION 38 underway (Barone et al, 2019;; Quality Improvement Center for Adoption and Guardianship Support and Preservation, 2019). Adoption continues to be an evolving area of child placement practice.…”

Positive parenting in foster care: A video-feedback intervention to promote positive parenting – theory and practice

“…In the second study, Barone, Ozturk and Lionetti (2019) (n ¼ 83) found increased sensitivity among mothers in a six-month follow-up of the intervention group (b ¼ .83, p ¼ .001) which contributed to higher levels of emotional availability and decreased externalising behavioural problems among the children (b ¼ 0.55, p ¼ .001, b ¼ À2.64, p ¼ .01).…”