TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of attachment based STEEP™ intervention in a German high-risk sample
AU - Suess, G. J.
AU - Bohlen, U.
AU - Carlson, E. A.
AU - Spangler, G.
AU - Frumentia Maier, M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2016/9/2
Y1 - 2016/9/2
N2 - STEEPTM was one of the first attachment-based early intervention programs. The program applied findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study on Risk and Adaptation to the development of a supportive program for young high-risk mothers and their infants. STEEP’s effectiveness was evaluated first in a randomized controlled study launched in 1987. The study showed effects of the one-year intervention on important individual and parenting variables, but not on quality of mother–infant attachment. In the current German study with young mothers at risk for abuse and neglect, a two-year adaptation of STEEP was evaluated within a quasi-experimental design. STEEP mother–infant pairs (N = 78) were compared with pairs who received standard services of the German Child Welfare System (GCWS, N = 29). Compared with GCWS pairs, significantly more mother–infant pairs in the intervention group showed secure attachment patterns in Ainsworth´s Strange Situation when the infants were 12 months of age. At the end of the intervention (infant age = 24 month), attachment security scores derived from Waters’ Attachment Q-Sort were in the predicted direction and showed a medium effect size, but did not reach criteria of statistical significance. At both time points, the STEEP group showed significantly fewer signs of attachment disorganization than the comparison group.
AB - STEEPTM was one of the first attachment-based early intervention programs. The program applied findings from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study on Risk and Adaptation to the development of a supportive program for young high-risk mothers and their infants. STEEP’s effectiveness was evaluated first in a randomized controlled study launched in 1987. The study showed effects of the one-year intervention on important individual and parenting variables, but not on quality of mother–infant attachment. In the current German study with young mothers at risk for abuse and neglect, a two-year adaptation of STEEP was evaluated within a quasi-experimental design. STEEP mother–infant pairs (N = 78) were compared with pairs who received standard services of the German Child Welfare System (GCWS, N = 29). Compared with GCWS pairs, significantly more mother–infant pairs in the intervention group showed secure attachment patterns in Ainsworth´s Strange Situation when the infants were 12 months of age. At the end of the intervention (infant age = 24 month), attachment security scores derived from Waters’ Attachment Q-Sort were in the predicted direction and showed a medium effect size, but did not reach criteria of statistical significance. At both time points, the STEEP group showed significantly fewer signs of attachment disorganization than the comparison group.
KW - Attachment based early intervention
KW - STEEP program
KW - translational research
KW - young high-risk mothers
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U2 - 10.1080/14616734.2016.1165265
DO - 10.1080/14616734.2016.1165265
M3 - Article
C2 - 27035267
AN - SCOPUS:84962068592
SN - 1461-6734
VL - 18
SP - 443
EP - 460
JO - Attachment and Human Development
JF - Attachment and Human Development
IS - 5
ER -