Insecure mothers with temperamentally reactive infants: A chance for intervention

The methodological pitfalls were described and the effectiveness of various types of intervention studies presented, with the somewhat unexpected conclusion that the most intensive, broadband interventions do not necessarily lead to the highest gains in sensitivity or attachment security. The implementation of VIPP and VIPP-R in a Dutch study seems to have the features of a home game. This chapter focuses on the short-term effects of the intervention. There is a large number of interventions that successfully enhance parental sensitivity, and prevent or alter insecure attachments in young children, but there are only a few intervention studies that implicitly or explicitly address the issue of changing parental mental representations of attachment. VIPP and VIPP-R were effective in enhancing maternal sensitivity to infants, but failed to produce a significant effect on infant attachment security. Differences between VIPP and VIPP-R may also become apparent in the long run.