Skip to main content
Log in

Intervention Effects on Foster Preschoolers’ Attachment-Related Behaviors From a Randomized Trial

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Prevention Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined change in attachment-related behaviors among foster preschoolers participating in a randomized trial of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program for Preschoolers (MTFC-P). Measures of secure, resistant, and avoidant behaviors were collected using a caregiver-report diary at 3-month intervals during the 12 months following a new foster placement. Children randomly assigned to the MTFC-P intervention condition (n = 57) showed significant increases in secure behavior and significant decreases in avoidant behavior relative to children assigned to a regular foster care condition (n = 60). Both groups showed significant decreases in resistant behavior over time. Analyses also revealed a significant interaction between treatment condition and age at first foster placement on change in secure behavior. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of early intervention and prevention services for foster preschoolers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. MTFC-P was referred to in prior publications as the Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC) Program. The new name has been in effect since 2005.

References

  • Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates, J. E., Maslin, C. A., & Frankel, K. A. (1985). Attachment security, mother–child interaction, and temperament as predictors of behavior-problem ratings at age three years. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2), 167–193.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Biringen, Z. (2000). Emotional availability: Conceptualization and research findings. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 104–114.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bowlby, J. (1969/1982). Attachment and loss. Vol. 1: Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, V., Cicchetti, D., Barnett, D., & Braunwald, K. (1989). Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants. Developmental Psychology, 25, 525–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crittenden, P. M. (1992). Children's strategies for coping with adverse home environments: An interpretation using attachment theory. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 329–343.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, M. (2005). Challenges of foster care. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 27–30.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, M., Stovall, K. C., & Albus, K. (1999). A transactional intervention for foster infants’ caregivers. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology: Developmental approaches to prevention and intervention (pp. 195–219). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

  • Elliott, D. S. (Ed.). (1998). Blueprints for violence prevention. Boulder: Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagot, B. I., & Kavanagh, K. (1990). The prediction of antisocial behavior from avoidant attachment classifications. Child Development, 61, 864–873.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fish, B., & Chapman, B. (2004). Mental health risks to infants and toddlers in foster care. Clinical Social Work Journal, 32, 121–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, P. A., Burraston, B., & Pears, K. (2005). The Early Intervention Foster Care Program: Permanent placement outcomes from a randomized trial. Child Maltreatment, 10, 61–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, P. A., Ellis, B. H., & Chamberlain, P. (1999). Early Intervention Foster Care: A model for preventing risk in young children who have been maltreated. Children's Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 2, 159–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garland, A. F., Landsverk, J. L., Hough, R. L., & Ellis-Macleod, E. (1996). Type of maltreatment as a predictor of mental health service use for children in foster care. Child Abuse and Neglect, 20, 675–688

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harden, B. J. (2004). Safety and stability for foster children: A developmental perspective. Future of Children, 14(1), 31–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe, D., & Fearnley, S. (2003). Disorders of attachment in adopted and fostered children: Recognition and treatment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 369–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howes, C., Galinsky, E., & Kontos, S. (1998). Child care caregiver sensitivity and attachment. Social Development, 7, 25–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, D. (2004). An attachment-based treatment of maltreated children and young people. Attachment and Human Development, 6, 263–278.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landsverk, J., Garland, A. F., & Leslie, L. K. (2002). Mental health services for children reported to child protective services. In J. E. B. Myers & L. Berliner (Eds.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (2nd ed., pp. 487–507). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leathers, S. J. (2002). Foster children's behavioral disturbance and detachment from caregivers and community institutions. Children and Youth Services Review, 24, 239–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, A. F. (2003). The treatment of attachment disorder in infancy and early childhood: Reflections from clinical intervention with later-adopted foster care children. Attachment and Human Development, 5, 279–282.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2004). Mplus User's Guide (3rd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nilsen, W. J. (2003). Perceptions of attachment in academia and the child welfare system: The gap between research and reality. Attachment and Human Development, 5, 303–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nollan, K. A., & Downs, A. C. (Eds.). (2001). Preparing youth for long-term success: Proceedings from the Casey Family Program National Independent Living Forum. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America Press.

  • Pearce, J. W., & Pezzot-Pearce, T. D. (2001). Psychotherapeutic approaches to children in foster care: Guidance from attachment theory. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 32, 19–44.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pears, K. C., & Fisher, P. A. (2005a). Developmental, cognitive, and neuropsychological functioning in preschool-aged foster children: Associations with prior maltreatment and placement history. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 26, 112–122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pears, K. C., & Fisher, P. A. (2005b). Emotion understanding and theory of mind among maltreated children in foster care: Evidence of deficits. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 47–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rones, M., & Hoagwood, K. (2000). School-based mental health services: A research review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 223–241.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rushton, A., Mayes, D., Cherilyn, D., & Quinton, D. (2003). Parenting late-placed children: The development of new relationships and the challenge of behavioural problems. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 389–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1979). Maternal deprivation, 1972–1978: New findings, new concepts, new approaches. Child Development, 50, 283–305.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schofield, G. (2002). The significance of a secure base: A psychosocial model of long-term foster care. Child and Family Social Work, 7, 259–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schofield, G., & Beek, M. (2005). Providing a secure base: Parenting children in long-term foster family care. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 3–25.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheperis, C. J., Renfro-Michel, E. L., & Doggett, R. A. (2003). In-home treatment of reactive attachment disorder in a therapeutic foster care system: A case example. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 25, 76–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L. A. (1988). The role of infant–caregiver attachment in development. In J. Belsky & T. Nezworski (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 18–38). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoolmiller, M. (1995). Using latent growth curve models to study developmental processes. In J. M. Gottman (Ed.), The analysis of change (pp. 105–138). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stovall, K. C., & Dozier, M. (1998). Infants in foster care: An attachment theory perspective. Adoption Quarterly, 2(1), 55–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stovall-McClough, K. C., & Dozier, M. (2000). The development of attachment in new relationships: Single subject analyses for 10 foster infants. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 133–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stovall-McClough, K. C., & Dozier, M. (2004). Forming attachments in foster care: Infant attachment behaviors during the first 2 months of placement. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 253–271.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1995). Of the way we are: On temperament, attachment, and the transmission gap: A rejoinder of Fox (1995). Psychological Bulletin, 117, 411–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van IJzendoorn, M. H., Juffer, F., & Duyvesteyn, M. G. C. (1995). Breaking the intergenerational cycle of insecure attachment: A review of the effects of attachment-based interventions on maternal sensitivity and infant security. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 225–248.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Support for this manuscript was provided by the following grants: P20 DA017592, NIDA, U.S. PHS; and R01 MH059780, NIMH, U.S. PHS. The authors thank the staff and families of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care for Preschoolers, Kristen Greenley for project management, Mary Dozier for consultation on use of the Attachment Diary, and Matthew Rabel for editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip A. Fisher.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fisher, P.A., Kim, H.K. Intervention Effects on Foster Preschoolers’ Attachment-Related Behaviors From a Randomized Trial. Prev Sci 8, 161–170 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-007-0066-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-007-0066-5

Keywords

Navigation