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The Effect of the NBO on Caregiver Relationships J. Fishman, E. Vele-Tabaddor, Y. Blanchard, C. Keefer, S. Minear, L. Johnson, and J.K. Nugent I. Introduction
There is a growing body of scientific literature demonstrating the positive preventative effects of relationship-based interventions for infants and their families (Als, et al., 2004; Blanchard & Mouradian, 2000; Nugent & Brazelton, 2000; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). There is also evidence to suggest that demonstrating the behavior of infants to parents, helps new parents better understand their babies and contributes to the development of a positive relationship between the new parents and their baby (e.g. DasEiden and Reifman, 1996; Gomes-Pedro et al. 1998; Nugent, 1985; Nugent and Brazelton, 2000). Recognizing the importance of these elements, the NBO system was designed for practitioners to describe an infant's competencies and individuality to parents with a view to strengthen the relationship between parent and child. A relationship-focused model, the NBO, aims to encourage and nurture the patterns of parenting that are associated with optimal development in children. It also aims to strengthen parent-provider relationships, which connect to parent-child relationships. Evidence from the field in early care and education, medicine and family support services show that high quality care consisting of increased quantity and quality of provider education and training combined with strengthened relationships between caregivers and families have positive effects on intermediate outcomes like family-child relationships and provider-family/system-wide collaboration and coordination (Christakis, Wright, Zimmerman, Bassett. & Connell, 2002; Loeb, Fuller, Kagan, & Carrol, 2004; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1996; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001; Schorr & Schorr, 1988) which can impact child development, particularly among overwhelmed families. The current descriptive study was designed to examine whether the NBO supports provider-parent relationships and parent-child relationships. Findings from this study will promote further understanding of how the NBO affects parent-child relationships and contributes to child developmental outcomes. II. Method: Table 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Note. aNot all individuals who completed questionnaires indicated their relationship to the infant and some questionnaires were filled out by more than one individual. (n=233). bPercentages are out of the total individuals who indicated their relationship to the infant.
Table 2 |
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| cNote. Not all individuals who completed questionnaires indicated their year of birth and some questionnaires were filled out by more than one individual. (n=224)
Table 3 |
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| dNote. Not all individuals who completed questionnaires indicated their level of education and some questionnaires were filled out by more than one individual (n=231). ePercentages are out of the total individuals who indicated their level of education.
III. Results Parent-child Relationship: Descriptive Findings
Provider- Parent Relationship: Descriptive Findings
Caregiver Knowledge of Infant Development: Comparison Findings IV. Discussion While further research needs to be done to replicate findings using more stringent measures and design, the evidence from these data suggest that the NBO may be a promising intervention strategy for reinforcing parenting confidence, parenting knowledge of infant development, and the partnership between parents and provider- elements that contribute to sensitive, nurturing relationships between parents and their children and in turn, stronger attachment relationships and healthier outcomes for children. Bibliography Blanchard, Y., & Mouradian, L. (2000). Integrating neurobehavioral concepts into early intervention eligibility evaluation. Infants and Young Children, 13(2), 41-50.
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Contextual theories of development have suggested parent-child relationships as particularly influential in the lives of young children (Bronfrenbrenner, 2002). The quality of early caregiving interactions is crucial to the healthy development of a child (Burton, 2005; Bornstein & Tamis-LeMonda, 1997; Grossman, et al., 2005; Lyons-Ruth, et al., 2006); early parent-child relationships are thought to have powerful effects on later child functioning (Als, et al., 2004; Bowlby, 1988; Cassidy, 1994; Brazelton & Cramer, 1990; Kochanska, 2002; Landry, Smith & Swank, 2003).
