The CARE-Index for Infancy

The CARE-Index (CI) is a clinical and research tool used to screen for risk and guide intervention in normative and at risk dyads. It is the simplest and most versatile of the assessments within the DMM series of assessments developed by Dr. Patricia Crittenden (see below). The Infant CI assesses adult-infant interaction from birth to 15 months using 3-5 minute video-recorded play interactions.
Coding of an interaction takes about 15-20 minutes. The CARE-Index is suitable for mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc., including people who are unfamiliar to the infant.
 

The CARE-Index can be used with other family information to:

• Screen dyads for services
• Assist parents to understand their infant’s behavior
• Initiate focused prevention services
• Develop new understandings of children’s development through research
• Develop functional formulations of family problems
• Guide decision-making around placement, fostering, and adoption

The CI assesses adults on three scales (sensitive, covertly and overtly hostile, and unresponsive) and infants on four scales (cooperation, compulsive, difficult, and passive). These scales provide information that is different from other risk factors such as demographics or parents’ history and is relevant to deciding whether and what kind of intervention might be needed. The infant scales tend to be related to the maternal scales in the order listed, i.e. sensitive mothers usually have cooperative infants, controlling mothers usually have compulsive or difficult infants, and unresponsive mothers usually have difficult or passive infants. The scales:
 

• Are correlated with the infant Strange Situation assessment of attachment
• Differentiate many subgroups of risk dyads
• Can be used during and as a part of intervention
• Can assess the effectiveness of intervention.

More than 30 published studies establish the validity of the CI for many kinds of maternal, child, and family risk (maltreatment, learning disabilities, maternal mental illness, etc.) and across many cultures.
 

The Training Course

The CARE-Index course is suitable for professionals and researchers working with infants in health, educational, social welfare, and psychotherapeutic settings. It is taught from videos in two parts to allow practice between the parts 1 and 2. Participants bring practice interactions for evaluation that reflect their intended application. The course teaches participants to administer and score CI videos.

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This course is taught for three days in in person and another three days online. This course is intended as an introduction to the TCI course. The reliability test for the ICI will be offered separately if there will be interest in it.

 

Who is it for? 

The Infant CARE-Index is a useful, portable tool for a wide range of Health and Social Care professionals whose work involves assessing and mounting interventions to improve parent-child interaction in the first 15 months of the child’s life. It can be used with families from all backgrounds and cultures and with infants and toddlers, including those with developmental problems such as physical and learning disabilities.

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DMM Series of Assessments of Attachment

Dr. Crittenden has developed a series of assessments: CARE-Index (Infants), CARE-Index (toddlers), an expanded Strange Situation to risk dyads (SSP), Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA), School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA), Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interview (TAAI), DMM modifications to the Adult Attachment Interview (DMM-AAI), and the Parents Interview (PI).

 

Further information about Dr. Crittenden’s work and courses can be found on her website: www.familyrelationsinstitute.org.

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