The “EA brief”: A single session of parent feedback and coaching to improve emotional attachment and emotional availability (EA)

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Abstract
The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which a brief parenting intervention provided the context for helping families to support positive mother–child interactions as well as more optimal mother and child outcomes. Participants in this study were middle income mothers and their children were between 0–3 years of age (N = 25 dyads). Participants were filmed via Skype during a 20‐minute mother–child free play and completed questionnaires (Time 1) before attending the brief intervention (involving: a single session of one‐on‐one parent feedback and coaching, and information via group meeting, texts, and reading) followed by a repeat of the 20‐minute Skype interaction and the completion of the same questionnaires (Time 2). Paired samples t‐tests were performed, revealing that mothers reported improvements in their personal well‐being (using the Flourishing Scale), reports about the mother‐child relationship (using the Emotional Availability Self Report), and observed interactions, particularly the child's side of the relationship (using the Emotional Availability System), from pretest to posttest. Results are discussed in terms of a single session of parent feedback and coaching (in conjunction with an informational group session and texts) potentially having a role in “planting a seed” for observed and self‐reported parenting enhancement and child development.

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