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Intervening with foster infants' caregivers: Targeting three critical needs
Author(s) -
Dozier Mary,
Higley Elizabeth,
Albus Kathleen E.,
Nutter Anna
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.10032
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , psychology , foster care , interpersonal communication , infant mental health , developmental psychology , mental health , clinical psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , psychiatry , social psychology , nursing
Abstract This article presents the theoretical and empirical rationale for an intervention that targets three critical needs of infants and young children in foster care. First, foster children tend to give behavioral signals that lead even nurturing caregivers to provide non‐nurturing care. Foster parents, therefore, need services that help them to reinterpret children's behavioral signals. Second, some caregivers are not comfortable providing nurturance. When surrogate caregivers do not provide nurturance to foster children, their children are at risk for a range of problematic outcomes. The second intervention component, therefore, targets caregiver difficulties in providing nurturance. Third, foster children are at risk for behavioral and biobehavioral dysregulation as the result of disrupted relationships with previous caregivers. The final intervention component helps caregivers provide children with a predictable interpersonal environment such that children develop better regulatory capabilities. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.