This pilot study was undertaken to assess the effects of holding therapy on the reduction of aggressive and delinquent in the special needs adoptive population. Subjects were recruited through The Institute for Attachment & Child Development (IACD) in Colorado. Eligible subjects were between the ages of 4 and 14 years, adopted children living in the adopted home for at least one year. All children had at least one previous placement prior to adoption. All children were exhibiting aggressive behavior and resistance to attaching to the adoptive parents. The two groups participating in this study consisted of families who had contacted IACD seeking treatment for their adopted children. Families who received two weeks of intensive therapy at IACD made up the treatment group (N=12), while those families who did not receive treatment at IACD made up the control group (N=11). Families in the control group did not receive any type of treatment during the period of the study.
The two-week intensive treatment consisted of 3 hour therapy sessions for 10 consecutive working days for the child and parents, IACD therapeutic foster parents, and home town therapist. The child lived with the IACD parents during the two-week treatment, and the adoptive/foster parents received training from the IACD parents on effective strategies and techniques for improving their relationship with their child. At the completion of the two-week treatment, the child and family returned to their home town, and many continued to receive treatment and support services from their community.
The instruments used in this study were the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Mothers and fathers each individually completed the CBCL and PSI and three different intervals of time. The results discussed below are based on mothers' CBCL ratings of their child's behavior one week prior to treatment, one week after the end of treatment, and five weeks after the end of treatment. Data consisting of fathers' CBCL ratings and the PSI are presently being analyzed, and will be discussed when they are available.
Wilcoxen's signed-rank test for paired data was used to examine possible changes in scores on the aggression (AGG) and delinquency (DLQ) scales of the CBCL for both groups. For the treatment group, decreases in both AGG and DLQ scores were seen one week and five weeks after treatment was completed, with the AGG scores showing significant improvement and the DLQ score approaching significance. In addition, AGG and DLQ ratings showed continued improvement from one week to five weeks after treatment was completed, indicating that behavior continues to improve when treatment is completed.
This research project is continuing at ACE, and we hope to increase the sample size by this time next year. This study is also being duplicated at the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio so that the results can be generalized to a larger group of children. The need for research in this field is long past due, and this study will hopefully be the first in a series of quantitative research to be conducted in the area of attachment disorder.
Finally, a detailed account of the results of this study is presently being submitted to a psychological journal for publication. The specifics of publication will be announced in this newsletter at a later date. Thank you to all the families who participated in this study. It could not have been accomplished without your time and energy. Also, a special thank you to the IACD staff for all your assistance and patience through the process.
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