Sandra Barrueco, professor of psychology and ILAIS Director, published an empirical article with her mentee Annie Davis, 2019 Clinical Psychology Ph.D., and Deborah Perry. It is entitled "The role of consultative alliance in infant and early childhood mental health consultation: Child, teacher, and classroom outcomes," in the Infant Mental Health Journal.

Young children's social–emotional development is powerfully shaped by their early environments, which for many includes early childhood education (ECE). Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) pairs teachers and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) consultants to promote teachers’ capacity to foster positive social–emotional development in ECE. Although the outcomes of IECMHC have been well studied, little research has investigated how this model leads to changes for teachers and children.

According to theory, the quality of the relationship between teachers and IECMH consultants, termed consultative alliance (CA), is a key mechanism of change. This study analyzed the role of CA on 6‐month outcomes of IECMHC in a sample of 316 children, 289 teachers, and 62 IECMH consultants. Results from multilevel models suggested that stronger CA predicted greater improvements in teacher–child closeness and teacher‐rated child attachment behaviors. In addition, a strong CA was related to greater improvement in classroom climate, teachers’ self‐efficacy, and teachers’ perceptions of their jobs. 

This study upholds the centrality of relationship‐building and parallel process in mental health consultation, and by advancing understanding of the mechanisms of change for IECMHC may provide salient implications for policy and practice.

To read the article, please, click here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/imhj.21889

About the authors:

Dr. Barrueco Dr. Davis Dr.Perry

Dr. Barrueco is a Professor at The Catholic University of America. She directs the Institute for Latin American & Iberian Studies (ILAIS), the academic program in Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS), as well as the doctoral program in clinical psychology. Dr. Barrueco’s expertise centers on immigrant and migrant children and families. She developed the first nationally-representative study of its kind with Migrant and Seasonal Head Start with its findings being used to shape practice and policy, as well as advance research methodologies and initiatives. The national study includes over 1,400 participants focused on primarily Mexican infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their agricultural families. Dr. Barrueco was recently awarded a competitive Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership Grant with colleagues and stakeholders to support continued investigations in collaboration with the agricultural community. 

Dr. Davis is an assistant research professor at the Georgetown Center for Child and Human Development.

Dr. Perry is the director of research and evaluation and professor at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. Dr. Perry’s research focuses on approaches to designing and testing preventive interventions for low-income young children and their caregivers. One main focus of her research is the prevention of postpartum depression in women in home visiting, WIC, and prenatal care. Dr. Perry has been with Georgetown University for the past decade where she has helped establish the evidence based program for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation in early childhood settings. In addition, Dr. Perry serves as the evaluator for DC’s MIECHV award.