Norwalk Feasibility Study

Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) is a novel family-based program that facilitates mother-child emotional connection and co-regulation. Many current interventions aim at helping the child to self-regulate with or without the mother's help. However, the ability of the mother-child dyad to promote optimal development is dependent on their ability to co-regulate. The interactive co-regulation between the mother and the child shapes the behavior of both the mother and the child.

This study aims to investigate the feasibility and short term effects of participation in the Family Nurture Intervention for preschool aged children with developmental and behavior problems. Mothers and children will be engaged by Nurture Specialists in comforting and calming interactions to co-regulate with each other during weekly group sessions with the support of study staff. Intervention sessions will occur over the course of eight weeks, and each mother will decide how many sessions to attend.

Inclusion criteria

• Mother is fluent in English or Spanish
• Mother is 18 years of age or older at the time of consent
• Mother-child pair does not demonstrate emotional connection as measured by the WECS
• Child is between the ages of 2 to 4½ years at date of enrollment (child must be younger than 4 years and 9 months at baseline assessment) or between 2 to 4½ at date of enrollment in study AAAQ9547
• Child resides with mother

Exclusion criteria

• The child has severe congenital anomalies or chromosomal anomalies including Downs syndrome and Cerebral Palsy
• The child has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder
• The child has severe motor or physical disability
• Mother currently presents with psychosis or is currently taking antipsychotic medication
• Current maternal drug and/or alcohol abuse
• Mother is more than four months pregnant
• Mother and/or infant has a medical condition or contagion that precludes intervention components
• Mother is unable to commit to study schedule