Stamford Group Family Nurture Intervention

There are several early intervention programs that are available for children with emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders, ranging from behavioral treatment and sensory exposure therapy to pharmaceutical treatments. Although improvements in behavior have resulted from these interventions, they are limited in numerous ways. They are usually time-consuming, both for the child and the teacher or clinician providing the intervention. In order to see an effect of the intervention, most children must engage in the intervention procedure for several years. Moreover, the effects of most current intervention procedures are minimal to moderate. Pharmaceutical prescriptions are often accompanied by undesirable side effects that may modulate behavior, emotion, and physiological functions. The behavioral, neurobiological, and clinical insights gained from this project may eventually lead to better treatment of emotional, behavioral and developmental disorders.

Inclusion criteria

• Child is a singleton
• Mother can speak, read and write in English or Spanish
• Child is between the ages of 2-4 1/2 years at date of enrollment
• Mother is 18 years of age or older at the time of consent
• Child resides with mother
• Child demonstrates developmental deficit as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (13 or higher on behavioral questions or 4 or less on prosocial questions)
• Mother and child deemed "emotionally unconnected" using the Welch Emotional Connection Scale (WECS) to score their five minute Welch Lap Test video
• Mother is able to commit to study schedule

Exclusion criteria

• The child has severe congenital anomalies or chromosomal anomalies including Downs syndrome and Cerebral palsy
• Child has a motor disability
• Mother sees or hears things that other people do not seem to see or hear
• Mother has trouble distinguishing whether something is real or part of imagination or dreams
• Mother is currently taking antipsychotic medications
• Mother or child have any medical conditions that might prevent them from participating in block play, mother holding child, or child sitting on mother's lap
• Mother has any current drug and/or alcohol abuse
• Mother is more than 4 months pregnant
• Mother is currently involved with Department of Children and Families
• The child has a diagnosis of Autism