2-021 - New Evidence from Relational Interventions for Maltreated Children

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Child maltreatment has significant and enduring consequences for individuals in multiple developmental domains. More than 90% of maltreated children are victimized by one or both parents (US DHHS, 2015); as such, child maltreatment may be best described as a pathogenic relational experience which primarily occurs in the parent-child relationship. This toxic relationship is characterized by poor maternal sensitivity and support, and attachment disorganization, all of which undermine child development. Addressing the parent-child relationship, therefore, emerges as a central focus of interventions for child maltreatment. In this symposium, new data about the effectiveness of relational interventions for maltreated children will be presented.
The first presentation will report outcomes from a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of the Reminiscing and Emotion Training (RET) intervention, a brief relational intervention for maltreated preschool-aged children and their mothers. Results indicate that RET enhances maternal support via elaborative and emotionally-supportive communication, and reduces rates of revictimization. The second talk will present findings from an RCT of the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up Intervention which indicates that ABC improves attachment security, which mediates associations between ABC and children’s body-mass index at age 4. The third talk will present a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of relational interventions to improve attachment disorganization. Results demonstrate that relational interventions are effective in reducing attachment disorganization, especially for families where child maltreatment has occurred. The discussant will conclude by considering the implications of this research and by offering recommendations for advancing the development, implementation and evaluation of relational interventions for maltreated children.

Sub Unit

• Prevention and Interventions

Chair

• Kristin Valentino, University of Notre Dame

Discussant

• Sheree Toth, University of Rochester

Individual Presentations

• Reminiscing and Emotion Training for Maltreating Families Enhances Maternal Support and Decreases Revictimization - Presenting Author: Kristin Valentino, University of Notre Dame; Leah Hibel, University of California, Davis; E Mark Cummings, University of Notre Dame; John G. Borkowski, University of Notre Dame

• Secure Attachment Predicts Lower BMI among CPS-referred Children: Results from a RCT of the ABC Intervention - Presenting Author: Kristin Bernard, Stony Brook University; Allison Frost, Stony Brook University; Caitlin Jelinek, University of Stony Brook; Mary Dozier, University of Delaware

• Child Maltreatment History Moderates the Effectiveness of Interventions in Preventing Disorganized Attachment: A Meta-Analysis - Presenting Author: Christopher Facompre, New York University – Abu Dhabi; Kristin Bernard, Stony Brook University; Theodore Waters, New York University – Abu Dhabi