University of Colorado Denver

PROJECT TITLE: K01 : 
American Indian Child Development and Attachment

FUNDING SOURCE: 
NIMH

DATES OF FUNDING: 
2001 - 2006

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S): 
Michelle Christensen, Ph.D.

CENTER STAFF INVOLVED:
Michelle Christensen, Ph.D., Marvine Douville

1. To systematically examine the cultural construction of attachment for American Indian parents and children with special emphasis on the implication of this knowledge for measurement of attachment within this cross-cultural context.
2. To specifically examine the utility of the Adult Attachment Interview as a measure of adult attachment and the Strange Situation as a measure of child attachment in an American Indian population.
3. To implement a study of American Indian parenting and child development, the purpose of which is to examine the impact of maternal attachment status on child attachment status and social-emotional and cognitive developmental progress at age 12-14 months.

1. Field observation of attachment-related behaviors and qualitative interviews.
2. Focus group and key-informant interviews regarding cross-cultural appropriateness of research measures.
3. Conduct interviews with mothers before the birth of their child.
4. Conduct interviews and administer research measures with mothers and their 12-14 month old child.
   

Research participants will be first-time mothers and their infants recruited from a Northern Plains reservation.   Participants will be contacted for recruitment through a local health care agency.   Eighty mothers and their children will be recruited.

1. Adult Attachment Interview.
2. Demographic Questionnaire.
3. Psychiatric Symptomatology Questionnaire.
4. CIDI-SF for Alcohol/Drug Abuse/Dependence.
5. Marital/Relationship Quality and Social Support.
6. History of Trauma & Loss Questionnaire.
7. Parenting Stress Index.
8. Family History Questionnaire.
9. Strange Situation.
10. Infant and Toddler Social Emotional Assessment.
11. Bayley Scales of Infant Development II.
12. Rothbart Infant Behavior Questionnaire.

PUBLICATIONS:  
N/A.