Manuscript Details

Source

Bernard, K., Dozier, M., Bick, J., Lewis-Morrarty, E., Lindhiem, O., & & Carlson, E. (2012). Enhancing attachment organization among maltreated children: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Child Development, 83(2), 623–636.

Rating
Moderate
Author Affiliation

When the research was conducted, the authors were affiliated with the University of Delaware and the University of Minnesota.

Funding Sources

NIMH grants R01 MH052135, R01 MH074374, and R01 MH084135

Study Design

Design Attrition Baseline equivalence Confounding factors Valid, reliable measures?
Randomized controlled trial High Established on race/ethnicity and SES; outcome(s) not feasible to assess at baseline None
Notes

Information on baseline equivalence for race/ethnicity and SES, attrition, and effect size and significance was based on correspondence with the author.

Study Participants

Parents/caregivers of children younger than 2 with protective services involvement were randomly assigned to the treatment and comparison groups. If the parent or caregiver had two children, both were placed in the parent/caregiver's assigned group. Most of the parents belonged to a minority racial/ethnic group (80 percent), were living in poverty (80 percent), and had less than a high school education (88 percent). 58 percent of the children were male, and 93 percent belonged to minority racial/ethnic groups.

Setting

The study was conducted in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic.

Home Visiting Services

The intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC), consisted of 10 hour-long sessions conducted weekly in participants' homes with parents and their children.

Comparison Conditions

Comparison families received Developmental Education for Families (DEF) in home visits that were the same duration (10 hour-long sessions) and frequency (weekly) as ABC. DEF was designed to enhance cognitive and linguistic development.

Subgroups examined

• Child age (less than 24 months old)

Findings that rate moderate or high in this manuscript

Child development and school readiness
Outcome measure Timing of follow-up Rating Effect size Stastical significance Sample size Sample description
Strange Situation Procedure - Disorganized Attachment Approximately 1 month after program end, or longer if child not yet old enough to measure outcome. Moderate 0.67 Statistically significant, p = 0.012 120 children Full analytic sample
Strange Situation Procedure - Secure Attachment Approximately 1 month after program end, or longer if child not yet old enough to measure outcome. Moderate 0.46 Not statistically significant, p = 0.082 120 children Full analytic sample
Effect rating key
Favorable finding / Statistically significant
UnFavorable finding / Statistically significant
Ambiguous finding / Statistically significant
No effect / Not statistically significant

This study included participants with the following characteristics at enrollment:

Race/Ethnicity

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if Hispanic ethnicity was reported separately or respondents could select two or more race or ethnicity categories.

Black or African American
61.00%
Hispanic or Latino
11.00%
White
8.00%
Two or more races
21.00%

Maternal Education

Less than a high school diploma
62.00%
High school diploma or GED
26.00%
Some college or Associate's degree
6.00%
Bachelor's degree or higher
1.00%
Unknown
5.00%

Other Characteristics

Enrollment in means-tested programs
71.00%