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Sara Beth Lohre, Psy.D., is a 2017 graduate of the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, Seattle

Dissertation Committee

William Heusler, Psy.D., Committee Chair

Sheldon Berger, Ph.D., Committee Member

Melissa Curran, Ph.D., Committee Member

Keywords

attunement, attachment, family, caregiver, parents, infant, infant language, baby, preverbal, cries, parenting stress, family support program, neglect, child abuse, prevention, intervention, evaluation, assessment, psychologist, ecological model

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

Infants speak in their own language; sounds, screeches, cries, and howls that help them to communicate their caregiving needs. Unaware, parents may develop a checklist of caregiving approaches to the baby. The infant tells the adult directly what they need, and waits for the parent to respond. Infant talk may change from soft and quiet to loud and aggressive; coos and cries become crying and screams as the infant’s caregiver—communicating the intensity of emotion, urgency of their request, or their frustration with varied and sometimes inadequate, failed, or missing caregiving patterns the infant has no choice but to accept. When the caregiver’s response is slow, missing, irrelevant, inconsistent, or incorrect, the infant’s level of stress increases. Stressed themselves, frustrated, and confused, parents and caregivers may neglect the child, or respond with abuse. According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2006), abuse and neglect have lasting effects on the child’s development. Parents and caregivers of an infant need support. The purpose of this Attune With Baby Intervention is to teach parents and caregivers infant language so they hear, more quickly understand the infant’s request, and respond appropriately, coordinating care with the infant before the infant and caregiver become stressed. Parents and caregivers attune with infant in the context of a family support program encompassing training, support, developmental assessment, referrals and connection to community resources, and other families. The program is implemented, developed, and evaluated by psychologists and doctoral students in psychology. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.etd.

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Sara Beth Lohre, Psy.D., 2017.

ORCID Scholar # 0000-0002-1676-2320

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