Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) -Infant
Model effectiveness research report last updated: 2020
In brief
Evidence of model effectiveness
Title | General population | Tribal population | Domains with favorable effects |
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Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) -Infant | Meets HHS criteria | Does not meet HHS criteria for tribal population because the model has not been evaluated with a tribal population. |
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Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up (ABC) -Toddler | Does not meet HHS criteria because the findings from high- or moderate-rated effectiveness studies of the model do not meet all required criteria. | Does not meet HHS criteria for tribal population because the model has not been evaluated with a tribal population. |
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Model description
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up–Infant (ABC-Infant) is a training program for caregivers of infants between the ages of 6 and 24 months, including high-risk birth parents and caregivers of young children in foster care, kinship care (such as a grandparent raising a grandchild), and adoptive care. Parent coaches conduct 10 weekly home visits lasting about 60 minutes each. The model is designed to help caregivers provide (1) nurturing, even when children do not appear to need it, (2) mutually responsive interactions in which caregivers follow children’s lead, and (3) care that does not frighten children. Parent coaches provide immediate feedback (referred to as “in the moment” comments) on the caregivers’ interaction with the child to help the caregivers attend to the target behaviors. During visits, the parent coach and caregiver watch videos of the caregiver interacting with the child. The parent coach highlights the caregiver’s strengths, celebrates changes in behavior, and identifies areas for improvement. The model also incorporates homework to give caregivers the opportunity to practice the skills they are learning and record their observations about their own behavior and the child’s behavior.
This report also includes a review of ABC-Toddler, designed for children between the ages of 24 and 48 months. (The studies HomVEE reviewed for ABC-Infant include research published before 2015 when the model was called the “ABC Intervention” and research published after the developer renamed the model “ABC-Infant” after introducing ABC-Toddler.)
Extent of evidence
For more information, see the research database. For more information on the criteria used to rate research, please see details of HomVEE’s methods and standards.