Singh Binu S K, Danckaerts Marina, Van den Bergh Bea R H
University of Leuven, University Psychiatric Center, Leuven, Belgium.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Feb 26;12:591389. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.591389. eCollection 2021.
Excessive crying and sleep problems affect up to 30% of infants and often coexist. Although usually benign and self-limiting, persistent crying, and sleep problems exceeding 6 months of age need attention as they may impair the mental health of the infant and its family. The source and the impact of these persistent regulatory problems is often not restricted to the infant, but extends to the parents and the parent-infant relationship. Clinical practice needs interdisciplinary and multi-method interventions focusing beyond regulatory problems of the infant but also on parental self-regulation and parent's co-regulatory responses toward the infant. Treating clinicians may encounter limitations of home-visits, outpatient, and pediatric residential settings when working with families in distress. We describe an infant mental health day-clinic treatment, drawing attention to this viable future direction. It offers a therapeutic climate based on forming a triangle of co-regulation between clinician, parent and infant to first help the parent and the infant settle down. This stress reduction restores parent-infant connectedness and parental learning and reflecting capacity. Clinicians then use established therapeutic modalities to support parental self- and co-regulatory skills which is important for the development of self-regulation in the infant. Experience with this treatment program suggests that a day-clinic setting facilitates interdisciplinary and integrative multi-method intervention, infant and parental stress reduction and integration of parental self- and co-regulatory skills in daily family life, improving overall outcomes. This perspective warrants further investigation.
过度哭闹和睡眠问题影响着多达30%的婴儿，且常常同时存在。尽管这些问题通常是良性的且具有自限性，但持续哭闹以及超过6个月大的睡眠问题需要引起关注，因为它们可能损害婴儿及其家庭的心理健康。这些持续性调节问题的根源和影响往往不仅限于婴儿，还会延伸到父母以及亲子关系。临床实践需要跨学科和多方法的干预措施，不仅关注婴儿的调节问题，还要关注父母的自我调节以及父母对婴儿的共同调节反应。在与处于困境的家庭合作时，临床治疗师可能会遇到家访、门诊和儿科住院环境的局限性。我们描述了一种婴儿心理健康日间门诊治疗方法，并提请注意这一可行的未来方向。它提供了一种治疗氛围，基于在临床医生、父母和婴儿之间形成一个共同调节的三角关系，首先帮助父母和婴儿安定下来。这种压力的减轻恢复了亲子之间的联系以及父母的学习和反思能力。然后，临床医生使用既定的治疗方式来支持父母自我调节和共同调节技能，这对婴儿自我调节的发展很重要。该治疗项目的经验表明，日间门诊环境有利于跨学科和综合多方法干预、减轻婴儿和父母的压力以及将父母自我调节和共同调节技能融入日常家庭生活，从而改善整体效果。这一观点值得进一步研究。
