Trial of Mentalization-Based Therapy for Substance Using Mothers of Infants and Toddlers

The Parent Development Interview (PDI; Slade, Aber, Berger, Bresgi, & Kaplan, 2002) was used to measure maternal capacity to mentalize about her own and her child's behavior. The PDI is a 1 hour semi-structured interview designed to elicit the mother's narrative about commonly occurring, emotionally-challenging aspects of parenting. A rating of 1 indicates a absence of recognition of mental states. A rating of 3 indicates a limited capacity to acknowledge mental states. A rating of 5 indicates the presence of a rudimentary capacity for reflective functioning.

The Parent Development Interview (PDI; Slade, Aber, Berger, Bresgi, & Kaplan, 2002) was used to measure maternal capacity to mentalize about her own and her child's behavior. The PDI is a 1 hour semi-structured interview designed to elicit the mother's narrative about commonly occurring, emotionally-challenging aspects of parenting. A rating of 1 indicates a absence of recognition of mental states. A rating of 3 indicates a limited capacity to acknowledge mental states. A rating of 5 indicates the presence of a rudimentary capacity for reflective functioning.

The Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI; Zeanah & Benoit, 1993) is a 1.5 hour interview used to elicit a narrative description of the mother's perceptions of her child and their relationship. The rater was trained by the to reliably code 6e qualitative subscales Openness, Richness, Coherence, Caregiving Sensitivity and Acceptance and Involvement. On the mean of six subscales, a score of three is considered to represent average representational quality, scores of 1 and 2 are considered to represent clinical risk and scores of 4 and 5 are considered to represent optimal quality.

The Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI; Zeanah & Benoit, 1993) is a 1.5 hour interview used to elicit a narrative description of the mother's perceptions of her child and their relationship. The rater was trained by the to reliably code 6e qualitative subscales Openness, Richness, Coherence, Caregiving Sensitivity and Acceptance and Involvement. On the mean of six subscales, a score of three is considered to represent average representational quality, scores of 1 and 2 are considered to represent clinical risk and scores of 4 and 5 are considered to represent optimal quality.

The NCAST Teaching Scale (Barnard & Eyres, 1979) is a standardized, 73 item tool used to observe and rate quality of interactions with children birth to 36 months. Mothers choose a task to teach the child in a 5 minute teaching session. Maternal behavior is coded on 4 dimensions: Sensitivity to Cues, Response to Distress, Social-Emotional Growth Fostering, & Cognitive Growth Fostering. The Total Caregiver Score is the sum of the 4 subscale scores. The Total Caregiver Contingency Score is the sum of 20 items from the 4 subscales that involve the caregiver's contingent response to child cues.

The NCAST Teaching Scale (Barnard & Eyres, 1979) is a standardized, 73 item tool used to observe and rate quality of interactions with children birth to 36 months. Mothers choose a task to teach the child in a 5 minute teaching session. Maternal behavior is coded on 4 dimensions: Sensitivity to Cues, Response to Distress, Social-Emotional Growth Fostering, & Cognitive Growth Fostering. The Total Caregiver Score is the sum of the 4 subscale scores. The Total Caregiver Contingency Score is the sum of 20 items from the 4 subscales that involve the caregiver's contingent response to child cues.

Child behavior with the mother was assessed using the Clarity of Cues and the Responsiveness to Caregiver Subscales from the NCAST Teaching Scales. The Child Total Score is the sum of the 2 scales. The Child Contingency Score is the sum of 12 contingent items from the 2 scales.

Child behavior with the mother was assessed using the Clarity of Cues and the Responsiveness to Caregiver Subscales from the NCAST Teaching Scales. The Child Total Score is the sum of the 2 scales. The Child Contingency Score is the sum of 12 contingent items from the 2 scales.

We will use the standard 8-episode protocol Strange Situation protocol. Each child will receive a classification of secure, insecure or disorganized for each time point.

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) was used to assess maternal symptoms of depression. The BDI is a widely used 21-item questionnaire rated on a 4-point scale and yields a total score ranging from 0 to 63: scores between 13 and 19 indicate mild depression; scores between 20 and 28 indicate moderate levels of depression, and scores between 29 and 63 indicate severe levels of depression (Beck et al., 1996).

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) was used to assess maternal symptoms of depression. The BDI is a widely used 21-item questionnaire rated on a 4-point scale and yields a total score ranging from 0 to 63: scores between 13 and 19 indicate mild depression; scores between 20 and 28 indicate moderate levels of depression, and scores between 29 and 63 indicate severe levels of depression (Beck et al., 1996).

The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1993) was used to assess maternal global psychiatric distress. The BSI is a standardized, widely used, 53-item, 5-point, self-report measure of psychopathology. The composite Global Severity Index (GSI) measures current overall symptomatology across multiple domains and has demonstrated good reliability and validity (Derogatis, 1993). T scores above 60 on the GSI indicate risk for a clinical disorder.

. We will use the Curiosity Box Paradigm (Mayes et al., 1993) to assess dyadic adjustment under circumstances of mild uncertainty (i.e., during the child's exploration of unfamiliar toys/objects). Children will explore a box of 9 novel toys or objects (that they are unlikely to have seen before) after an initial 5 minute warm up period with one box of 9 familiar toys. Maternal, child and dyadic behavior will be assessed with the Coding Interaction Behavior Scales (Feldman, 1998).

. We will use the Curiosity Box Paradigm (Mayes et al., 1993) to assess dyadic adjustment under circumstances of mild uncertainty (i.e., during the child's exploration of unfamiliar toys/objects). Children will explore a box of 9 novel toys or objects (that they are unlikely to have seen before) after an initial 5 minute warm up period with one box of 9 familiar toys. Maternal, child and dyadic behavior will be assessed with the Coding Interaction Behavior Scales (Feldman, 1998).