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Enhancing attachment relationships: An evaluation of the Circle of Security Parenting Intervention
Thesis   Open access

Enhancing attachment relationships: An evaluation of the Circle of Security Parenting Intervention

Jacinta Avril Tan
Masters by Coursework, Murdoch University
2019
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Abstract

The quality of the parent-child attachment relationship in the first five years is crucial for a child’s socio-emotional and cognitive development as it critically influences how the infant processes social information and interacts with the environment. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of the Circle of Security Parenting (COS-P) program on: i) the caregiver’s ability to better understand and cope with their child’s emotional needs; ii) enhancing parental reflective functioning (i.e., caregivers awareness of their child’s emotions while also being aware of their own); and iii) enhancing dyadic empathy in the caregivers’ romantic relationship. Twenty caregivers with a child aged 5 and below were recruited to participate in the COS-P intervention program. Participants completed self-report measures at three time points (T1, T2, T3). A within-subject nested control design was utilised in this study (T1 to T2), with the COS-P intervention completed between T2 to T3. The results only partially supported the hypotheses, with a significant increase in supportive responses and a decrease in unsupportive responses to coping with a child’s distress after attending the COS-P program. The study provides initial findings on the efficacy of the COS-P program in enhancing the caregiver’s ability to cope with their child’s emotional needs and distress. Future studies may replicate these findings with a larger sample, using randomized controlled designs, and follow-up data. Keywords: Circle of Security, attachment, reflective functioning, empathy

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