Dose-effect on the mothers and babies attending the Programa de Apoyo Psicológico P/Materno-Infantil©

This paper presents an analysis of the intervention dose-effect of the Parent Child Psychological Support Program© (Cerezo 1990) a program aimed at promoting protective adaptive system in children which is offered to all new-borns in a given catchment area. The program offers support to parents during the first 18 months of the baby's life. The program dose-effect is examined regarding the parents by examining the level of distress reported by them and with babies by examining the development of attachment using the Strange Situation test of Ainsworth et al. (1978). The study is based on 342 families who made between 2 and 4 visits to the Program before being evaluation post-intervention. The results indicate that at least 3 program sessions are required to produce a significant decrease in the distress scores for mothers, between pre and post evaluation. The proportion of children with secure attachment is greater when the family attends 3 or 4 times, compared to those who attend on 2 occasions. It was also noted that mothers of children with insecure attachment had higher scores on the maternal distress and other factors affecting parenting than mothers of children with secure attachment.