The focus of this pilot investigation was to determine if the EA Briefing (previously referred to as the EA Brief), could improve self-reported and observed emotional availability (EA) as well as maternal wellbeing. Participants in this study were mothers and their children, including infants, preschoolers, school-aged children, and adolescents. All assessments were administered prior to and at the end of the intervention. These assessments included the observational Emotional Availability (EA) Scales, the Emotional Availability Self-Report (EA-SR), and the Flourishing Scale. During the intervention, mother-child dyads were in their homes and filmed via Zoom. Each mother completed a single, short, individualized parent feedback and coaching session and received information about emotional availability, attachment, and mindfulness. Results examined differences between the groups and indicated that those who received the intervention showed more improvement in observed EA and self-reported EA than those who did not. Additionally, parent-child dyads of all age groups in the study demonstrated improvements. This suggests that the EA Briefing may be relevant for a wider age range of children than have previously participated. The study may also encourage other attachment-based interventions to examine their effectiveness with older children.
