Mother-Infant Psychoanalysis Project of Stockholm
Mother-Infant Psychoanalysis Project of Stockholm
Mother-infant relationship disturbances broadly comprise three areas; maternal distress,
 infant functional problems, and relationship difficulties. Given the high frequency of such
 disturbances and the relative paucity of randomized treatment studies, substantial systematic
 investigation is needed. This project is a randomized controlled study comparing
 mother-infant psychoanalytic treatment with treatment as usual in cases where mothers and/or
 health visitors demanded expert help.
DESIGN

 Eighty dyads with infants below 1½ years of age were interviewed and then randomly assigned
 to MIP or TAU. An end-point interview followed after ½ year, evaluating the intervention
 effects.

 The MIP treatments were performed by IPA psychoanalysts at the Infant Reception Service of
 the Swedish Psychoanalytic Society. TAU implied contact with a nurse at a Child Health
 Centre, as part of regular Swedish health care of infants and mothers. Additional treatments
 within the TAU framework suggested at the initiative by the health visitor or the mother were
 registered at the end-point interview.

 INSTRUMENTS

 Mother-report questionnaires; the Ages and Stages Questionnaire:Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE;
 Squires et al., 2002), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987), the
 General Severity Index of the Symptom Check List-90 (Derogatis, 1994)and the Swedish Parental
 Questionnaire (SPSQ; Östberg et al., 1997).

 Time frame: All four instruments were measured at intake interviews and six months later.

 Independently rated video-taped mother-infant interactions: the Emotional Availability Scale
 (EAS; Biringen, 1998).

 Relationship assessment: the Parent-Infant Relationship Global Assessment Scale (PIR-GAS;
 ZERO-TO-THREE, 2005).
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  The mother expressed significant concerns about one or more of the following domains:
 herself as a mother, her infant's well-being, or the mother-baby relationship (this
 was operationalized as a score < 80 ("perturbed relation") on the PIR-GAS or,
 alternatively, > 2.5 on the SPSQ).

 -  Infant of any gender, age below 18 months.

 -  Duration of worries exceeding two weeks.

 -  Domicile in Stockholm.

 -  Reasonable mastery of Swedish.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Maternal psychosis.

 -  Substance dependence according to DSM-IV, to an extent precluding collaboration.

 No mothers met these criteria.