Browsing by Author "Biringen, Zeynep, advisor"
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Item Open Access Adverse childhood experiences, stress, and emotional availability: an American Indian context(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Saunders, Hannah E., author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Swaim, Randall, committee member; Sarche, Michelle, committee memberAmerican Indian individuals are at a heightened risk for experiencing trauma and high levels of life stress. Despite a preponderance of research demonstrating the long-term detrimental effects of early trauma on physical and mental health, no study has yet examined how caregivers' own traumatic experiences impact their children's social-emotional health. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which caregivers' trauma, stress, and mental health was associated with child social-emotional functioning. Results indicated that caregivers' early traumatic experiences have long-term effects on their own mental health, as well as their child's. These findings highlight the importance of assessing and intervening upon the effects of early life trauma. The secondary purpose of this study was to validate the Emotional Availability Scales, a measure of the parent-child relationship quality, in an American Indian/Alaska Native community. Results demonstrated that higher emotional availability, particularly structuring, was related to children's social-emotional competence, and lower caregiver non-hostility was associated with child externalizing symptoms. These results call attention to the relevance of multiple indicators of the quality of caregiver-child relationships, rather than a sole focus on sensitivity.Item Open Access Are movement and dance effective methods for improving maternal mental health and wellbeing and emotional availability toward the unborn baby?: a pilot study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Dame, Katelyn Branson, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, advisor; Harvey, Madeline Jazz, committee memberFostering an early bond between a mother and her developing fetus is important as it has profound implications for future attachment relationships and long-term child outcomes (Winston & Chicot, 2016). Emotional Availability (EA) and its associated measurement scales have proven a valuable tool for use in long- and short-term interventions that promote the development of a healthy caregiver-child bond across several age groups and caregiver types (Biringen et al., 2014). However, few existing studies focus on the prenatal period, and none focus specifically on the vital nonverbal components of EA. Movement through dance is an internationally accepted, multi-cultural psychotherapeutic technique that utilizes the power of movement to enhance the body-mind connection (Behrends et al., 2012). Dance-movement research in recent years has noted long-term increases in wellbeing and cognitive and interpersonal abilities for participants. Unfortunately, most of these studies have not utilized consistent or reliable evaluation methods and none focus on the prenatal period (Behrends et al., 2012; Doonan & Bräuninger, 2015; Koch et al., 2019). For this study, we examined the connection between EA concepts and dance-movement techniques to address these gaps. This study proposed that creating EA-based dance-movement workshops would improve mothers' connection with their unborn baby, mental health, and overall wellbeing. A total of 22 participants completed one of the two intervention arms: a dance-only intervention (n = 12) or a dance + psychosocial intervention (n = 10). Outcomes were assessed using paired-samples t-tests and regression analyses to analyze the effects between the two intervention groups and to detect increases or decreases in maternal mental health, wellbeing, and relationship quality with the fetus pretest to posttest. Paired samples t-tests revealed significant decreases in anxiety (t(21) = 2.51, p < .05) and increases in self-reported EA with the fetus (t(21) = -3.56, p < .05) from pre- to posttest. Results between participation in the dance-only or dance-+-psychosocial intervention were not significant (t(21) = .06, p = n.s.). These results indicate that participants' anxiety decreased from program involvement while their self-reported EA increased, regardless of intervention arm completed.Item Open Access Becoming relationally effective: high-risk boys in animal-assisted therapy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Schneider, Abbey Ann, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Barrett, Karen, committee member; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Kogan, Lori, committee memberThis study was conducted to formally evaluate the effectiveness of the Human Animal Bond in Colorado (HABIC, 2010), an animal-assisted therapy (AAT) intervention based in 23 elementary schools in the Front Range; these terms are used interchangeably in this report. Previous research on the benefits of human and dog relationships has provided support for using measures of attachment to rate the quality of connection within this dyad (Kurdek, 2008; Melson, 2003; Triebenbacher, 1998). The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales 4th Edition (Biringen, 2008), an attachment-derived system, were used to objectively evaluate the interactions in the human-animal team, representing the first use of the EA system to assess the quality of the human-animal bond. In addition, the Bonding Scale (Angle, Blumentritt, & Swank, 1994) was used to assess the child's report of bonding to the dog, the Child Behavior Checklist and the Teacher Report Form (Achenbach, 1991) were used to assess behavior problems, and school records yielded information about attendance and disciplinary referrals. All of the participants in this study were boys considered to be at high-risk for internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Paired-sample t-tests revealed that EA (child-dog and child-adult) significantly increased from pre- to post-test. (Child-adult EA scores apply to the child's display of EA towards both the adult dog trainer and the school professional on the HABIC team.) In addition, a significant decrease was seen in student disciplinary referrals from pre- to post-test.Item Embargo Emotional availability (EA) brief: single session feedback and coaching for improving fathers' emotional availability across a wide developmental spectrum(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Lincoln, Michael, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Prince, Mark, committee member; Harvey, Ashley, committee memberFathers are a historically underrepresented population in developmental research and must be considered for their modern presentation in parenting processes. Emotional Availability (EA) is a construct that captures the parent-child relationship quality and predicts positive outcomes for children. A recently developed intervention, the EA Brief, is a program conceptualized for easy administration that may be utilized to improve father-child dyadic functioning across a range of child ages. The final sample of interested fathers was 18 fathers with children between 4-months and 13.5-years. For pretest sessions, all fathers completed surveys (demographic information, the Emotional Availability Self Report, and the Flourishing Scale) via Qualtrics, followed by a 20-minute filmed interaction via Zoom which was later coded for EA. Immediate Intervention Group (IIG) received one pretest before the intervention and one posttest after the intervention over a 3-5 week intervention delivery. The intervention involved a 2-hour interactive Zoom workshop where information about EA, attachment, and mindfulness was provided, a 1-hour individualized, Zoom EA feedback/coaching session, and two weeks of text reminders about the covered content. In contrast to the IIG, the Waitlist Control (WC) participants received two pretests (same assessments as above) separated by the 3-5 week time period corresponding to the timing of intervention delivery for the IIG. After the second pretest, they received the same intervention as the IIG. All IIG and WC fathers received posttest sessions (exact same assessments as for the pretests noted above). Across 16 target variables assessing EA, six observed variables showed post-intervention improvement (a < .05) though no significant findings were found on self-reported measures. These findings suggest that fathers respond to programs that provide guidance for clinically informed, research-based parenting despite the program having limited effect on their self-perceptions of how they parent.Item Open Access Emotional availability (EA) brief: single session feedback and coaching with mothers of children 0-17 years old(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Russell, Frances Elizabeth, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Yoder, Jamie, committee memberThe focus of this study was to determine if a brief parenting feedback and coaching session (along with background information) could provide the context for helping mothers to support optimal self-reported and observed emotional availability, as well as maternal wellbeing. Participants in this study (n = 25) were middle income mothers and their children (ages 0-17 years). Participants were sorted into two blocks: Parents in the first block of participants (i.e., the "immediate intervention group") (IIG) were asked to complete all pre-test assessments and immediately given the intervention. Parents in the second block (i.e., the "waitlist control" group) (WC) were asked to complete all pre-test assessments (pre-test 1) and then put on a waitlist, completing a second set of pre-test assessments (pre-test 2) approximately 4 weeks later and then given the intervention. All parents (in the IIG and WC) were then administered post-test assessments. Pretest and posttest assessments included observed emotional availability as well as questionnaires (Emotional Availability Self Report (EA-SR; Vliegen et al., 2009) and the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2010). To compare differences in pre-post changes for IIG vs. WC participants before receiving the intervention, we conducted a One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on the difference scores (post-test minus pre-test) for the IIG and difference scores for the WC (pre-test 2 minus pre-test 1). Finally, to examine child age as a predictor of change in our outcome variables, we regressed the pre-post difference scores on child age, pooling observations from the IIG and WC groups. Results indicated that those receiving the single session intervention showed more improvement in EA and other study variables over time when compared to those who did not receive the intervention. The child's age did not predict the effectiveness of the intervention. Results are discussed in terms of a single session of parent feedback and potentially "planting a seed."Item Open Access Emotional availability (EA) teleintervention for adoptive families(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Baker, Megan A., author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Rosén, Lee, committee memberThis study evaluated the new online Emotional Availability (EA) Intervention for use with adoptive families in enhancing parent-child EA, parental perceptions of EA, child attachment behaviors, parent-child emotional attachment, and reducing parent-reported child behavioral problems and parenting-related stress. Participants in this study were adoptive parents and their adopted children ages 1.5 - 5 years old (N = 15 dyads). Participants were placed in an immediate intervention group (IG) or a delayed intervention group (DG) that would receive the 6-week EA Intervention after the IG. Results revealed significant differences in the IG in child behavioral problems, parent-child EA, parental perceptions of EA, and parent-child emotional attachment, improvements not seen in the DG. Analysis of effects of the DG after receiving the EA Intervention revealed significant differences over time also in child behavioral problems, parent-child EA, parental perceptions of EA, and parent-child emotional attachment. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.Item Open Access Emotional availability of adult interpersonal relationships questionnaire (EA-AIRQ): validation and implications for research and practice(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Herndon, Erandi, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Henry, Kimberly, committee memberEmotional Availability (EA) is commonly known as a parent-child construct used to describe the level of healthy emotional connection in the dyadic relationships (Biringen et al., 2014). Stemming from John Bowlby's (Bowlby, 1969) work on attachment, EA provides a gauge to the level of parent's receptiveness to a child's emotional feedback, both positive and negative (Biringen et al., 2014). In addition to relationships between the parent and child, EA conceptually should be applicable to a wide array of relationships. This paper will define the construct of EA and its foundations in attachment theory. It will then focus on the development and validation of a brief EA Adult Interpersonal Relationships Questionnaire (EA-AIRQ). A total of 215 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers were administered this measure (with request for participants to complete the measure for 'friends' and then for 'romantic partners'). Participants also completed the measures of attachment and mental well being. The EA-AIRQ was composited in two ways: 1-unit-weighted, with each item equally weighted (by adding all items), and 2-regression-weighted, that is, from a factor analysis for friends and romantic partners separately with the aim of obtaining a one-factor solution. Correlations between these composites and the other administered measures revealed meaningful patterns. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.Item Open Access Evaluation of Possums Sleep Intervention: a pilot feasibility study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Closson, Lia, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, committee member; Willams, Elizabeth, committee memberThe first year after the birth of a child is one of the most challenging times for mothers due to disrupted sleep associated with disorganized infant sleep. Research has shown that persistent fragmented maternal sleep increases a mother's risk of developing depression and negatively influences her overall well-being. Both issues can challenge the mother-infant relationship. In an effort to improve sleep for both mother and infant, healthcare providers often recommend infant behavioral sleep interventions. The primary focus of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of easily recruiting for, adequately delivering, and sufficiently retaining participants in the Possums Sleep Intervention, a psychoeducational group workshop for women with infants between the ages of 0-6 months. A second goal of the study was to evaluate the Possums' curriculum potential in improving maternal sleep, maternal perceptions and cognitions of infant sleep, reported emotional availability and postnatal depressive symptoms. Participants were assessed at the start of the study and again at the completion of the 4-week workshop. Results showed improvements with respect to the perceived emotional availability in the parent-infant relationship, but there were no positive effects related to sleep for mother or for infant and no positive effects for mother's mood.Item Open Access Examining the association between emotional availability and mindful parenting(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Benton, Julie, author; Coatsworth, Doug, advisor; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Stallones, Lorann, committee memberThis study examined the relationship between Emotional Availability (EA) and Mindful Parenting (MP), as well as their independent and combined associations with indicators of adolescent well-being. EA is a well-established measure of parent-child relationship quality, but the existing literature for EA is limited to infancy and childhood, with minimal emphasis on adolescence. There is, however, expansive support for the importance of the parent-child relationship in adolescence for well-being in adolescence and early adulthood. Mindful Parenting is one construct shown to be associated with both positive parent-child relationships and adolescent well-being. The current study tests the association among EA, MP and indicators of adolescent well-being in a sample of 30 adolescent-mother dyads participating in a longitudinal study of the Mindfulness Enhanced Strengthening Families Program (MSFP) 10-14. EA and MP were assessed through observational coding of parent-adolescent interactions. Results indicated significant associations between EA and MP, and between each construct and adolescent outcomes. Additionally, individual EA Scales and MP dimensions were established as unique predictors of adolescent outcomes. These results indicate there is a significant relationship between EA and MP and both constructs are related to adolescent outcomes, with some specific contributions to indicators of adolescent well-being.Item Embargo Mother-child and father-child emotional availability during the COVID-19 pandemic(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Dungan, Maggie Elise, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Yoder, Jamie, committee memberWhile the body of literature on COVID's impact to family life is rapidly expanding, most studies are based entirely on self-report data, leaving a critical gap in observational studies of parent-child interactions. The goal of this study was to evaluate parent-child relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic using the observational Emotional Availability (EA) construct. Parents (N = 43) were assessed using the Epidemic Pandemic Impacts Inventory (EPII), the Flourishing Scale (FLS), and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaires. The subcategories of the EPII were used to develop an EPII negative and an EPII positive for each parent. EA (sensitivity, structuring, nonhostility, nonintrusiveness, child responsiveness, and child involvement) was coded from filmed parent-child interactions. Separate hierarchical multiple regressions (HMRs) were run to evaluate each of the variables of interest (EPII and FLS) as predictive of EA. Child age and ACEs were added in subsequent steps for EPII negative and positive if the initial step was significant. For mothers, results demonstrated EPII negative as a significant predictor of EA with child age and ACEs adding only small amount of variance to the prediction. The same HMR process was repeated for flourishing, with the covariate child age alone. For fathers, flourishing was a significant predictor of EA and child age added only a small amount of variance to the prediction. Results indicate that experiencing high COVID-related stressors is associated with lower EA for mothers, but not fathers. Having high levels of flourishing during the pandemic was predictive of higher EA for fathers, but not mothers.Item Open Access Parental alienation and targeted parents: loss, coping, and social support(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Kline, Chelsea L., author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Harman, Jennifer, committee member; Harvey, Ashley, committee memberAs the phenomenon of parental alienation becomes more prevalent and recognized by professionals who work with families, focusing on the impact of parental alienation on the alienated parent is becoming progressively more important. Alienated parents often suffer some sort of loss of their child (e.g., emotional connection, physical contact, or both) as a consequence of parental alienation. Due to the nature of this loss, we argue that parental alienation can lead to ambiguous loss that the targeted parent must learn to cope with. The purpose of this study was to further understand the experiences of parents who are targeted in alienation cases, specifically their feelings of loss and grief through the loss of emotional and/or physical connection with their children, as well as the various social supports that may be used by these parents in an effort to cope with this loss. The original interview data was obtained from parents who claim to have been alienated from their child after a separation or divorce. In order to quantify the qualitative data, two researchers coded the transcripts based on the operational definitions. The researchers coded a subsample of 45 interviews with these alienated parents. The researchers tested correlations between physical contact and emotional connection between the alienated parent and child, as well as between the contact and social supports utilized. Zero order (Pearson) correlations revealed no significant associations. However, some interesting results and themes from this subsample were noted.Item Open Access Parental alienation: the case for parentification and mental health(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Kraus, Allyson, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Harman, Jennifer, committee memberParental alienation typically occurs in families with separated or divorced parents, and one parent actively campaigns against the other parent to elicit the support of the children. Due to the detrimental effects that alienation can have on a child and the apparent lack of awareness on the part of the alienating parent, it has been speculated that alienating parents may experience poor mental health. Parentification is a common tactic used by alienating parents in order to align with the child(ren), and the boundary disruption involved in parentification further supports the idea that these parents may be experiencing a mental illness. Interviews with parents who report being alienated from a child were coded for their descriptions of the alienating parent's level of parentification and their mental health status. Results indicated a significant relation between the level of parentification and mental health status. The marital status and gender of the targeted parent, as well as parenting time, were also tested as contributors to the parentification in the family, but no significant associations between these variables were found. The significant association between parentification and mental health status implies that poor mental health may predispose parents to use parentification as a tactic in the process of alienation.Item Open Access School-based individual therapy for children with behavior problems(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Rosenberg, Josie, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Barrett, Karen, committee member; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Kogan, Lori, committee memberThis study was conducted to assess the impact of individual child therapy for children aged 5-11 who exhibit classroom misbehavior. We hypothesized that the emotional availability of children would significantly increase and that reports of behavior problems would significantly decrease over the course of a school-based child therapy intervention. The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales (Biringen, 2008) were used to assess child therapeutic engagement. (Biringen & Easterbrooks, 2000). Therapy sessions were taped monthly to assess the child's EA. Disciplinary referral data and teacher reports of behavior problems using the Teacher Report Form (TRF) (Achenbach,1991) were collected pretest and posttest. Results indicated a significant reduction in disciplinary referrals, but no significant changes in teacher reports or EA scores. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.Item Open Access Testing the efficacy of the "EA Brief": an intervention to improve emotional attachment and emotional availability (EA)(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) McDonnell, Maren, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee member; Stallones, Lorann, committee memberThe goal of this study was to determine the extent to which a brief parenting intervention provided the context for helping families to support positive mother-child interactions as well as more optimal mother and child outcomes. Participants in this study were middle-income mothers and their children ages 0-3 years of age (N = 25 dyads). Participants were filmed via Skype during a 20-minute mother-child free play and completed questionnaires (Time 1) before attending the brief intervention (involving: 3 hours of a group workshop, brief reading materials, one hour of one-on-one coaching, and two weeks of tailored texts) followed by a repeat of the 20-minute Skype interaction and the completion of the same questionnaires (Time 2). Paired samples t-tests were performed, revealing that mothers reported improvements in their personal well-being (using the Flourishing Scale), reports about the mother-child relationship (using the Emotional Availability Self Report), and observed interactions, particularly the child's side of the relationship (using the Emotional Availability Scales), from pretest to posttest. Results are discussed in terms of a brief intervention potentially having a role in "planting a seed" for parenting enhancement and child development.Item Open Access The intergenerational transmission of trauma: attachment, adverse childhood experiences, and current life stress(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Saunders, Hannah E., author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Fariñas, Janina, committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee member; Sarche, Michelle, committee member; Rosén, Lee, committee memberAttachment theory highlights the importance of the quality of the relationship between an infant and his or her primary caregiver. However, caregivers with unresolved trauma or loss may behave in frightening ways and foster a disorganized (D) attachment style with their infant. This attachment style poses a significant risk for later psychopathology. However, challenges remain in identifying D attachment through observation. The Emotional Availability (EA) system may help to elucidate the indicators of disorganization. Study 1 represents the first step in validating the EA system in identifying D attachment and provides guidelines to assist EA coders in coding D attachment. Next, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) negatively affect adults' mental health and their child's development. Despite theoretical links among caregivers' ACEs, current life stress, attachment, and child psychopathology, few studies have examined these pathways. This is particularly important in American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) populations, for which a history of systemic oppression has contributed to high rates of trauma. Study 2 tests whether parent mental health and parent-child EA mediates the relation between parent ACEs and child social-emotional functioning in a largely American Indian sample. The indirect effect is not significant, suggesting a strong direct effect from ACEs to child functioning. Study 2 also examines a moderation model to determine whether high parent-child EA buffers against parents' current life stress. Results demonstrate a strong link between parents' stress and child social-emotional problems, but the moderation effect is the opposite of what was expected.Item Open Access What predicts day-to-day mindfulness of expectant mothers and fathers?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Russell, Caitlyn, author; Biringen, Zeynep, advisor; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, committee member; Rosen, Lee, committee memberMindfulness has been shown to correlate with attachment security, as well as aspects of mental health—however, little is known about these factors during pregnancy for both mothers and fathers. The current study tested associations between day-to-day mindfulness, adult attachment anxiety and avoidance, prenatal attachment, and functional mental health (i.e., measures of stress, anxiety, and depression) in expecting couples. Secondary data from an emotional availability intervention study was analyzed from the pre-intervention portion of the study. Each partner completed questionnaires, and zero order correlations and Hierarchical Multiple Regressions (HMRs) were run to determine predictors of day-to-day mindfulness in mothers, fathers, and the couple. Although individual HMRs for mothers and fathers was not predicted by adult attachment in any way, adult attachment anxiety for the couple was found to be a significant predictor of couples' day-to-day mindfulness during pregnancy, suggesting that the couple as a unit reports being more mindful in their daily life if they are less anxious about their couple relationship. SES and prenatal attachment generally did not explain much of the variance in predicting day-to-day mindfulness for the mother, father, or couple, suggesting that prenatal attachment to the baby does not predict how mindful the expectant family is in their day-to-day life. However, the findings in this study clearly indicate that 'functional mental health' is predictive of day-to-day mindfulness in the mother, father, and couple; and this will be explained for by a variety of analyses and discussed in terms of implications for future research and clinical practice.