Hands and Hearts Together

Growing evidence demonstrates that secure attachment in childhood predicts children's healthy social, biological, and behavioral functioning, whereas insecure attachment predicts behavior problems and physiological dysregulation; thus, efforts to foster secure attachment are crucial for promoting the healthy development of children and families. This proposal describes a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an innovative intervention program that can be widely implemented designed to foster children's secure attachment, promote healthy physiological regulation, and reduce the risk for behavior problems: The Circle of Security ® Parenting (COS-P) intervention. To this end, investigators will conduct an RCT with 249 parent-child dyads enrolled or are eligible but not yet enrolled in two diverse Early Head Start (EHS) programs.

NCT Number	NCT05834907
Lead Sponsor	University of Maryland, College Park Collaborators: Lehigh University, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Conditions	Parent-Child Relations, Development, Infant, Parenting, Development, Child
Enrollment	249 participants
Start Date	2023-03-27
Primary Completion	2027-06-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-06-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-07-03