MOVING UPSTREAM: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PREVENTION STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE THE IMPACTS OF EXPOSURE TO ADVERSE EXPERIENCES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Abstract

National surveys indicate worsening mental health symptoms among parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by stressors including caregiving burden, social isolation, and lack of financial resources. Low-income families and families from Black and Brown communities, where the pandemic’s economic and health effects are most acute, may be particularly vulnerable to emotional distress impacting caregivers. Caregiver stress and mental health problems are modifiable risk factors highly correlated to early childhood social-emotional development and increase vulnerability to disrupted attachment and maladaptive parenting. This Symposium presents emerging findings from 4 empirically based preventative interventions. Presenters describe promising new research findings from 4 initiatives with high-risk families that: 1) identify at birth and provide resources to families at elevated risk for maltreatment in a prospective clinical study emphasizing tolerability, feasibility, and engagement, for which the final phase is a randomized controlled trial; 2) promote caregiver-infant bonding in a clinical sample of depressed mothers, using methods validated in Circle of Security; 3) initiate a proof-of-concept and feasibility study using video feedback in primary care to screen and educate caregivers around parent-child interactions; and 4) implement a parent mindfulness training program in preschools for reduction of stress and mental health symptoms in parents, using a mixed-methods open-label design. Across 4 projects demonstrating new clinical research data, presenters share examples of preventative interventions showing feasibility, engagement, and effectiveness, with noteworthy benefits for underserved families via delivery in a range of clinical and nonclinical settings. Despite stressors exacerbated by the pandemic, these novel projects demonstrate with new research findings that high-risk families with infants and young children can be engaged in a range of psychosocial supports toward prevention of maltreatment, improvement in bonding with Circle of Security, assessment and tailored video feedback around parent-child interactions delivered in primary care, and mindfulness to improve caregiver mental health.