Clinical Psychology Research Group, KULeuven (University of Leuven), Leuven, Belgium.
Center for Family Intervention Science, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Fam Process. 2023 Sep;62(3):1040-1054. doi: 10.1111/famp.12887. Epub 2023 Apr 18.
In middle childhood, the first manifestations of mental health problems can emerge and become a precursor of mental health issues in adolescence. Given that weak parent-child attachment can contribute to this distress, it is possible that strengthening the attachment bond could reduce risk trajectory. Unfortunately, evidence-based attachment-focused interventions are lacking at this age. Attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) is a well-studied intervention for troubled adolescents and has the potential to be extended downward to children. However, ABFT for adolescents focuses on mentalization and trauma conversation strategies that may be developmentally advanced for children's capacities. Therefore, we modified the intervention strategies to be more developmentally sensitive to childhood. Middle childhood ABFT (MCABFT) builds on the theory that insecure attachment develops through a learning process that can be interrupted and reorganized to promote secure attachment development. MCABFT uses less conversation and more play and puts parents more at the center of the therapy compared with ABFT for adolescents. In this article, we describe MCABFT's theoretical and clinical model.
在儿童中期，心理健康问题的最初表现可能会出现，并成为青少年心理健康问题的前兆。鉴于薄弱的亲子依恋可能会导致这种困扰，那么加强依恋关系可能会降低风险轨迹。不幸的是，目前这个年龄段缺乏基于依恋的循证干预措施。基于依恋的家庭治疗（ABFT）是一种针对问题青少年的经过充分研究的干预措施，有可能向下扩展到儿童。然而，针对青少年的 ABFT 侧重于心理化和创伤对话策略，而这些策略可能超出了儿童的能力发展阶段。因此，我们修改了干预策略，使其更符合儿童的发展阶段。儿童中期 ABFT（MCABFT）基于这样一种理论，即不安全的依恋是通过一个学习过程发展起来的，这个学习过程可以被打断和重新组织，以促进安全的依恋发展。与针对青少年的 ABFT 相比，MCABFT 使用较少的对话，更多的游戏，并将父母更多地置于治疗的中心。在本文中，我们描述了 MCABFT 的理论和临床模型。
