This investigation will evaluate the relative effectiveness of two theoretically-informed approaches in preventing the adverse sequelae of maltreatment in infants. Research participants will include 150 infants who have been maltreated by their biological caregiver during their first year of life and who continue to reside with the maternal caregiver, and 50 nonmaltreated demographically matched comparison infants and their mothers (NC). An ecological-transactional and organizational perspective on development serves to guide the intervention and evaluation models. Maltreated infants and their mothers will be randomly assigned to 1 of 3 types of intervention: 1) Services routinely available in the community when a family is reported for child maltreatment (CS); 2) CS involvement plus weekly Psychoeducational Home Visitation (PHV); 3) CS involvement plus weekly Infant-Parent Psychotherapy (IPP). Intervention will be provided until the infant's second birthday. All mother-infant dyads will participate in baseline assessments at the infant's age of 12 months. Subsequent assessments will occur at 18, 24, 36 an 48 months of age. Assessments will measure three major areas: 1) ecological-family variables; 2) maternal functioning and parenting; and 3) child functioning and stage-salient issues. Child Protective Services records will be monitored annually across all groups to determine whether any reports of maltreatment have been filed. Because all mother-child dyads will be evaluated at the end of the intervention (24 month assessment), as well as for two additional years, the immediate as well as enduring effects of the intervention will be assessed. By following these mother-child dyads into the preschool years, the relative effectiveness of two theoretically-informed approaches to preventing child maladjustment, improving parenting, and reducing future maltreatment will be evaluated.
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