Coding of Toddler’s Self-Regulation

A randomized controlled trial was conducted on the Group Attachment Based Intervention (GABI) to determine its effectiveness in improving the parent-child relationship of high-risk families.  One of the main goals of the intervention is to improve the reflective functioning of the parent and in turn their children.  This refers to the ability to assign mental states to the thoughts, feelings and intentions of the self and others. Increased reflective functioning in parents has been associated with parental sensitivity, which in turn promotes compliance and cooperation in toddlers and children.  This coding group will code various forms of compliance and noncompliance in children engaging in a clean up task with their parents. The coding scheme also includes parent verbal and physical codes to understand how parents contribute to the task. The footage comes from assessments carried out before treatment began, after treatment was complete, and six months after treatment ended, for a follow up.  This group will assess how compliance changes over treatment and how those changes compare to a standard parent education program called STEP (Systematic Training for Effective Parenting).