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A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries

The first 1000 days is recognised as the most sensitive period of development of an individual’s life. Infants in low and middle-income countries face significant risks to their development during this period. Research confirms that having a responsive, caring relationship between the infant and car...

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Main Author: Gilmour, Kirsty A
Other Authors: Swartz, Alison
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Division of Public Health 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Gilmour, Kirsty A
author2 Swartz, Alison
author_browse Gilmour, Kirsty A
Swartz, Alison
author_facet Swartz, Alison
Gilmour, Kirsty A
author_sort Gilmour, Kirsty A
collection Thesis
description The first 1000 days is recognised as the most sensitive period of development of an individual’s life. Infants in low and middle-income countries face significant risks to their development during this period. Research confirms that having a responsive, caring relationship between the infant and caregiver is a considerable protective factor for infants, and results in better longterm outcomes in cognition, language, academic achievement, social skills and behaviour. The aim of this review was to systematically examine the literature to identify interventions in low and middle-income settings that influence infant-caregiver responsivity and attachment and explore the characteristics of the interventions that contribute to its efficacy. Ten electronic databases were searched (Pubmed, Scopus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Africa-Wide, CINAHL, Health Source, ERIC, SocINDEX & Cochrane Library), as well as hand searching relevant reference lists for published articles in the English language from 1969-2018. A total of 11 765 studies were identified through the search strategy and 24 studies were included in the review. The included studies were critically appraised and then coded descriptively to enable a narrative synthesis of findings. Studies were from low and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America and consisted predominantly of randomized control trials, but also quasi-experimental studies and a single cohort and qualitative study were included. All but two studies found positive effects on responsivity, attachment or both. For ten of the studies this effect was significant. The findings suggest implementing individual or group interventions in LMICS has a positive effect on caregiver-infant relationships and can be delivered successfully by trained non-professional staff.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:13.078Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Division of Public Health
publisherStr Division of Public Health
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29875 A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries Gilmour, Kirsty A Swartz, Alison Roman, Nicolette Public Health The first 1000 days is recognised as the most sensitive period of development of an individual’s life. Infants in low and middle-income countries face significant risks to their development during this period. Research confirms that having a responsive, caring relationship between the infant and caregiver is a considerable protective factor for infants, and results in better longterm outcomes in cognition, language, academic achievement, social skills and behaviour. The aim of this review was to systematically examine the literature to identify interventions in low and middle-income settings that influence infant-caregiver responsivity and attachment and explore the characteristics of the interventions that contribute to its efficacy. Ten electronic databases were searched (Pubmed, Scopus, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Africa-Wide, CINAHL, Health Source, ERIC, SocINDEX & Cochrane Library), as well as hand searching relevant reference lists for published articles in the English language from 1969-2018. A total of 11 765 studies were identified through the search strategy and 24 studies were included in the review. The included studies were critically appraised and then coded descriptively to enable a narrative synthesis of findings. Studies were from low and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America and consisted predominantly of randomized control trials, but also quasi-experimental studies and a single cohort and qualitative study were included. All but two studies found positive effects on responsivity, attachment or both. For ten of the studies this effect was significant. The findings suggest implementing individual or group interventions in LMICS has a positive effect on caregiver-infant relationships and can be delivered successfully by trained non-professional staff. 2019-03-01T09:09:47Z 2019-03-01T09:09:47Z 2018 2019-02-25T10:15:02Z Master Thesis Masters MPH http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29875 eng application/pdf Division of Public Health Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Public Health
Gilmour, Kirsty A
A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
thesis_degree_str Master's
title A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
title_full A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
title_fullStr A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
title_full_unstemmed A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
title_short A Systematic Review of Caregiver Interventions in Infancy to Enable Responsive Caregiving and Secure Attachment in Low and Middle-Income Countries
title_sort systematic review of caregiver interventions in infancy to enable responsive caregiving and secure attachment in low and middle income countries
topic Public Health
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29875
work_keys_str_mv AT gilmourkirstya asystematicreviewofcaregiverinterventionsininfancytoenableresponsivecaregivingandsecureattachmentinlowandmiddleincomecountries
AT gilmourkirstya systematicreviewofcaregiverinterventionsininfancytoenableresponsivecaregivingandsecureattachmentinlowandmiddleincomecountries