Stamford Group Family Nurture Intervention

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Developmental Delay
Family Conflict
Behavior Problem
Emotional Disturbances

Interventions: Behavioral: Nutrition and Play Intervention
Behavioral: Family Nurture Intervention

Brief Summary: The purpose of this current study is to investigate the efficacy of a group model of Family Nurture Intervention in ameliorating behavioral problems in preschool-aged children. The behavioral, neurobiological and clinical insights gained from this project may eventually lead to better treatment of emotional, behavioral, and developmental disorders. The investigator hypothesizes that the children who are treated with Family Nurture Intervention (FNI), which incorporates interactive touch with vocal soothing, and family practice in comforting, will show increased emotional connection and mother child co-regulation with better results in the outcome measures in the short term and long term.

Detailed Description: There are several early intervention programs that are available for children with emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders, ranging from behavioral treatment and sensory exposure therapy to pharmaceutical treatments. Although improvements in behavior have resulted from these interventions, they are limited in numerous ways. They are usually time-consuming, both for the child and the teacher or clinician providing the intervention. In order to see an effect of the intervention, most children must engage in the intervention procedure for several years. Moreover, the effects of most current intervention procedures are minimal to moderate. Pharmaceutical prescriptions are often accompanied by undesirable side effects that may modulate behavior, emotion, and physiological functions. The behavioral, neurobiological, and clinical insights gained from this project may eventually lead to better treatment of emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Child is a singleton
Mother can speak, read and write in English or Spanish
Child is between the ages of 2-4 1/2 years at date of enrollment
Mother is 18 years of age or older at the time of consent
Child resides with mother
Child demonstrates developmental deficit as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (13 or higher on behavioral questions or 4 or less on prosocial questions)
Mother and child deemed "emotionally unconnected" using the Welch Emotional Connection Scale (WECS) to score their five minute Welch Lap Test video
Mother is able to commit to study schedule

Exclusion Criteria

The child has severe congenital anomalies or chromosomal anomalies including Downs syndrome and Cerebral palsy
Child has a motor disability
Mother sees or hears things that other people do not seem to see or hear
Mother has trouble distinguishing whether something is real or part of imagination or dreams
Mother is currently taking antipsychotic medications
Mother or child have any medical conditions that might prevent them from participating in block play, mother holding child, or child sitting on mother's lap
Mother has any current drug and/or alcohol abuse
Mother is more than 4 months pregnant
Mother is currently involved with Department of Children and Families
The child has a diagnosis of Autism

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Nutrition and Play Intervention (NPI)	Nutrition and Play Intervention	Half of the mother-child dyads who are enrolled into the study will be randomly assigned to the Nutrition and Play Intervention group.
Family Nurture Intervention (FNI)	Family Nurture Intervention	Half of the mother-child dyads who are enrolled into the study will be randomly assigned to the Family Nurture Intervention group.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Welch Emotional Connection Scale (WECS) Score	12 months	This is designed to measure emotional connection. Children will be asked to sit on their mother's lap for five minutes. This interaction will be video taped, and will be behaviorally coded using the Welch Emotional Connection Scale (WECS) and using a paradigm evaluated in Noldus coding software. The Welch Emotional Connection Scale (WECS) construct is emotional connection between mother and child, which we hypothesize predicts optimal development. There are four items on the WECS: Mutual Attraction, Mutual Vocal Exchange, Mutual Facial Engagement, and Mutual Sensitivity/Reciprocity. Each item is rated on a scale from 1 to 3 in 0.25 increments with a score of 3 considered optimal. At or below 2.25 on any individual item, or a total score below 9 means that the mother-child pair is not emotionally connected. There is also a binary question to the rater asking if the pair is emotionally connected - yes or no. The mother and child are scored as a pair, not individually.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method

Locations (1): Stamford Childrens Learning Center
🇺🇸
Stamford, Connecticut, United States