Summary of PROGRAM
Parents suffering toxic stress (depression, addiction, violence) are unable to respond sensitively to their infants which interferes with forming secure parent-infant attachments necessary for healthy child development. Secure attachment is influenced by parental Reflective Function (RF); parents’ capacity to understand and thus regulate their own feelings/behaviour toward their child. Few RF interventions exist and focus only on mothers’ understanding of their own psychological caregiving representations but do not promote learning RF skills via practice, and ignore co-parents. Building on this research ATTACH has developed and pilot tested a RF intervention designed for mothers and co-parents; intended as an add-on program to existing parenting programs (Nurturing Parenting, Thera-play).
Over 25% of Canadian children are vulnerable to cognitive and behavioural problems. Not surprising the World Health Organization has called for programs like ATTACH to address persistent discrepancies in child development to “close the gap”. Understanding associations between parental RF and (1) maternal sensitivity/responsiveness, attachment, and (2) child development fills an empirical gap and informs the effectiveness of community programs for at risk parents/children. ATTACH enhances ISPCAN’s vision of accelerating innovation to improve environments that support healthy child development.
Methods
The ATTACH project is community-based, employing integrated knowledge transfer via partnering with Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS), an inner city agency serving vulnerable families. The sample drawn from CUPS Nurturing Parenting program did not cover RF. ATTACH completed two 12 week intervention pilot studies with 20 families.
Goals and Objectives
Short Term Goals
- Engage mothers in safe, supportive RF-focused sessions
- Engage mothers in practicing RF
- Engage mother’s co-parenting support (e.g. child’s father, mother’s partner, mother’s friend or family member) in supporting mothers’ practice of RF
Long-Term Goals
- Grow the mothers’ capacity for RF
- Support mothers’ ability to be sensitive and responsive in interactions with child (and others)
- Support secure mother-infant attachment
- Support healthy development of infant
Funded by:
- Palix Foundation
- Alberta Centre for Child, Family & Community Research (ACCFCR)
- Anonymous Donor
- Harvard Frontiers of Innovation
- Calgary Foundation
Members of the Team
| PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS | Dr. Nicole Letourneau (PI) Faculty of Nursing University of Calgary Dr. Martha Hart (Co-PI) University of Calgary |
| PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS | Carlene Donnelly, Executive Director Calgary Urban Project Society Dean Schroeder, Senior Director – Developmental Strategy Calgary Urban Project Society |
Effects of a Parenting Intervention on Immune Cell Gene Expression in Children Exposed to Toxic Stress
This sub-project builds on Dr. Letourneau’s existing ATTACH program by adding an important marker of physical health: immune cell function. High quality maternal-child attachment can buffer the effect of toxic stress on child neuroendocrine pathways [e.g. hypothalamic-adrenal pituitary (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal-medulla (SAM) axes], with beneficial downstream effects on child immune system activity, i.e. reduced risk for allergies and reduced low-grade inflammation, a risk factor for poor future health. This sub-project extends previous research by taking advantage of an ongoing, effective parenting intervention to test whether improved mother-child relationship qualities and attachment in the context of toxic stress has additional benefits for preschoolers’ immune function immediately following the intervention.
Methods
Dried blood spot (DBS) collection from children enrolled in the ATTACH Phase 2 scale-up at study end. This study enrolled mother-child pairs from vulnerable families exposed to domestic violence and residing at Discovery House. With DBS collection, a finger is pricked, and blood drops are collected onto specially prepared filter paper cards and dried at room temperature. Immune cell gene expression (mRNA) will be assayed from DBS samples. DBS has been validated for immune cell gene expression (mRNA), an indicator of immune cell activity. To our knowledge, this sub-project represents the first prospective examination of the impact of a parenting intervention on immune function in the preschool period.
Funded by:
- Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI)
Members of the Team
| PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS | Dr. Nicole Letourneau (PI) Faculty of Nursing University of Calgary Dr. Kharah Ross (Co-PI) Associate Professor and Chair of the Centre for Social Sciences Athabasca University |
Interested in learning more about the ATTACH™ Program?
Visit the ATTACH™ Program website:
childstudies.ca 