This experiment is part of the Mental Health Challenge Grant. Browse more projects

Can babies have mental health issues?

$104
Raised of $1,550 Goal
7%
Ended on 2/09/17
Campaign Ended
  • $104
    pledged
  • 7%
    funded
  • Finished
    on 2/09/17

About This Project

When babies have difficulties with crying, sleeping and eating they may go on to have later behavioral and emotional problems. Relationships with their primary caregivers (typically their parents) can also be affected and create the "perfect storm" for later more identifiable mental health issues. We want to validate a way of identifying early indicators of disorganization so that effective preventive interventions can be developed.

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What is the context of this research?

Working with babies and families in hospital intensive care units and after discharge home I realized that many early interventionists are not aware of the specific emotional needs of newborns and young infants. Literature points to later mental health issues as a result of early birth and hospitalization. A large majority of infants born preterm or medically fragile develop ADHD, anxiety, behavioral issues and symptoms consistent with autism spectrum disorders. Researchers have identified that infants, in particular those hospitalized in the newborn period with crying, sleeping and/or eating problems are more likely to develop later mental health diagnoses (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54:7 (2013), pp 772–779; J Abnorm Child Psychol.(2013)DOI 10.1007/s10802-013-9813-1)

What is the significance of this project?

Currently professionals who follow medically fragile babies in the community do not have a valid assessment of newborn and young infant behavioral and emotional development. Validation of the Babies Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI) will provide them with a sensitive, non-invasive way of determining early regulation problems which may lead to later mental health diagnoses. The BABI will also provide a foundation for development of appropriate interventions to prevent later behavioral and emotional problems as the baby grows into toddlerhood and preschool. The next step in validation of the BABI is to compare the behavioral regulation of typically developing with medically fragile babies.

What are the goals of the project?

We currently have some validation data on the BABI, but the next steps are to use it to see similarities and differences between typically developing and medically fragile newborns up to 6 months of age. We need to 1. compare scores on the BABI between typically developing and medically fragile infants, and 2. provide further information about the utility of the BABI for use by early intervention professionals with medically fragile infants. To do this, trained volunteers will observe 10 typically developing babies and 10 medically fragile babies at similar ages (+- one week) in their home, interview the parents and fill out the BABI. Data will be summarized and comparisons between the two groups will be made.

Budget

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Currently there is no comprehensive evaluation of important areas of emotional development for the newborn and young infant. Validation of the Babies Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI) will be essential to furthering the identification of babies at risk for regulatory issues and later behavior and emotional problems. The data collected and analyzed by volunteers will allow for a crucial step in validation of the instrument and compare the development of these early issues between typically developing and medically fragile infants.

They will need:

hard copies of the Babies Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI), ($50 for photocopying)

travel reimbursement for trips to the family homes ($500 for local car travel)

a small stipend for doing the data collection ($25.00 per family visit for a total of 20 babies entered).

data collation and analysis (doctoral student volunteer @ $25 per hour for 20 hours



Endorsed by

I strongly endorse this project, as professionally having worked with this population for many years recognize the need for an assessment encompassing the necessary uniqueness and caliber of the BABI. There is no other assessment available that truly identifies the unique needs of the medically fragile infant, validating the significance to intervene early and identify and prevent the many mental health and developmental issues that may affect this population.
This is a project that will provide important information on how to identify early indicators of disorganization in high risk newborns. Identifying these indicators early can lead to appropriate interventions and prevent later mental health issues in young children. This is an area where there has been limited research.

Meet the Team

Joy V. Browne
Joy V. Browne
Joy V. Browne, Ph.D., PCNS, IMH-E (IV) Adjunct Faculty

Affiliates

Fielding Graduate University
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Team Bio

Team BABI is working to provide supports for early interventionists who work with newborns and young infants and their families. One of the efforts is to provide training and access to appropriate assessment tools and to provide a foundation for appropriate intervention for these vulnerable infants and their families.

Joy V. Browne

Joy Browne is an Infant Mental Health Professional and Clinical Nurse Specialist who has over 35 years experience with medically fragile babies both in hospital intensive care and as they transition to their community home. Her work has focused on supporting families in understanding and supporting their newborns and young infants, especially those who have eating, crying and sleeping problems early on. She has worked with many of these children and their families when resulting behavioral and emotional challenges become apparent and families are at a loss for how to manage their emerging mental health concerns. In her work with professionals in the community, she collected data that showed a lack of educational and assessment resources to work with these babies and their parents. So, she developed a training program that includes how best to assess and provide intervention strategies that meet the needs of this particular population. Along with the training program, Joy and her colleagues developed the Babies Adaptive Behavior Inventory (BABI) to help professionals know best how to support newborns and young infants early on. Initial validation has begun, but the next step needs financial support for the volunteers who are wilingly providing their time and energy to get the BABI birthed!

Lab Notes

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Project Backers

  • 3Backers
  • 7%Funded
  • $104Total Donations
  • $34.67Average Donation
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