title: Effectiveness of attachment based STEEP™ intervention in a German high-risk sample.
abstract: STEEP(TM) 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.
authors.affiliation: a Social Work Department , Hamburg University of Applied Sciences , Hamburg , Germany.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Suess
authors.affiliation: a Social Work Department , Hamburg University of Applied Sciences , Hamburg , Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bohlen
authors.affiliation: b Institute of Child Development , University of Minnesota , Minneapolis , MN , USA.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.affiliation: c Institute of Psychology , University of Erlangen-Nuernberg , Erlangen , Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spangler
authors.affiliation: d Director (retired) of the center for women and children in Offenburg , Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frumentia Maier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education*; D009769:Object Attachment; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment based early intervention; STEEP program; translational research; young high-risk mothers