The Effectiveness Of Attachment Interventions: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of the primary studies on early attachment interventions among caregivers was conducted to determine their efficacy on attachment and sensitivity outcomes. We used five online databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, ERIC, and Web of Science) to search for relevant primary articles through April 2022. Our initial search yielded 10,465 potentially relevant articles, and 60 papers published between 1980 and 2022 met our inclusion/exclusion criteria. Two teams of two individuals independently extracted qualitative and quantitative data. The total sample included 5,940 children, 5,674 mothers, and 1,050 fathers. We calculated the association of the effects between the intervention and attachment and sensitivity separately based on the available statistical information as odds ratio (OR). The analyses of 37 and 26 studies showed improved attachment security and maternal sensitivity, respectively. Interventions were more effective in the studies that used randomized control trials than in studies that used other designs for both attachment and sensitivity outcomes. While video use did not impact the sensitivity outcome, interventions that did not use video were more effective for attachment outcome than those that used video. Finally, the number of sessions and intervention length did not impact the efficacy of the intervention on attachment and sensitivity.