Poster #161 - Effects of a video-feedback home intervention program focused on maternal sensitivity on enhancing infant development

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Prevention and Interventions

Integrative Statement

Several types of intervention can enhance maternal sensitivity but those with specific and well-defined focus tend to produce better results on infant’s development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a video-feedback intervention to increase maternal sensitivity on the development of 11-month-old infants. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted with 44 mother-infant dyads, living in two low-income communities in Salvador, Brazil. Dyads were randomly assigned between intervention (n = 22) and control (n = 22) groups. When the infants were three months old, the dyads of both groups were observed during free-play, for the assessment of the maternal sensitivity. Infants were evaluated with the Child Behavior Development Scale (CBDS), which scores stabilized behaviors (displayed by 90% of same age infants), normalized behaviors (displayed by 50% of the infants at the same age), and advanced behaviors (usually not displayed by infants at the same age). Mothers of both groups also answered the Self-Report Questionnaire of Minor Psychiatric Disorders (SRQ-20) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) for evaluation of maternal mental health, which were taken into account as co-variants in the analyses. After the third month assessment, mothers of the intervention group were submitted to the Maternal Sensitivity Program, which was carried out in eight home visits between infant’s third and tenth month. Each visit had the following script: observation and recording of mother-infant interaction (five minutes), instructions about sensitive and insensitive maternal behaviors using video-feedback (20 minutes), modeling (five minutes), and closure (10 minutes). Each visit addressed a specific theme such as the infant’s interactive potential, social contingency, turn-taking, joint attention and intrusiveness. The dyads in the control group received, by mail, printed material on child development with the same periodicity of the visits to the intervention group. The printed material did not mention aspects of mother-infant interaction or maternal sensitivity. When the babies completed eleven months of age, all dyads in both groups were evaluated with the same measures used before intervention. Results from mixed-model ANOVA showed a marginally significant difference (F (1.41)= 3.59, p= 0.06, r = 0.28) between control and intervention groups on total developmental scores (CBDS), although no interaction was verified between time of assessment and group assignment. No differences or interaction effects were found for stabilized and normalized behaviors, however, children in the intervention group showed more advanced behaviors than children in the control group (F (1.41)= 7.73, p= 0.01, r = 0.40), as well as an increase of advanced behaviors from three to 11 months (F (1.41)= 8.96, p= 0.01, r = 0.42). Nevertheless, no interaction effect was verified between time of assessment and group assignment in advanced behaviors. Those findings indicate the potential of Maternal Sensitivity Program to enhance infant development, specially increasing its pace. On the other hand, the absence of interaction effects suggests the need of refinement of the intervention strategies as well as further investigation, aiming the achievement of stronger benefits to infant’s development.

Authors

• Patrícia Alvarenga, Universidade Federal da Bahia
  Presenting Author

• Maria Ángeles Cerezo, Universidad de Valencia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Wiese, Utrecht University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cesar Augusto Piccinini, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  Non-Presenting Author