[The Importance of Adaptive Treatment Strategies for Treatment Outcome in fSKEPT].

The manualized focused infant/toddler-parent psychotherapy fSKEPT is a psychodynamic focal treatment of early childhood regulatory disorders, in which either a conflict-related or a personality functioning-related treatment focus is carried out. The aim of the study is to review the effectiveness of fSKEPT depending on two different therapeutic treatment focuses. For this purpose, n = 81 families who received fSKEPT were examined as part of secondary analyzes of a randomized controlled study. The therapeutic treatment focus did not predict the effectiveness for any of the examined target criteria (maternal psychological stress F(1,70) = 0.71, p = .401, maternal depression F(1,70) = 0.18, p = .678, infant regulatory symptoms F(1,70) = 0.11, p = .753, maternal self-efficacy F(1,70) = 0.038, p = .847, maternal reflective functioning F(1,50) = 0.56, p = .458). In a subsample of n = 33 families (40 % of the total sample) we tested whether the therapeutic interventions used in the therapy correspond to the treatment focus of the therapists. No significant difference was found between personality functioning-specific interventions (t(28) = 1.71, p = .099) and unspecific interventions (t(28) = 1.77, p = .087) when comparing the two treatment focus groups. In the conflict focus group significantly more conflict-specific interventions were used (t(28) = 2,71, p = .011). The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the focus concept of the fSKEPT treatment. The focus and the flexible individual adaptation of the interventions in the course of the treatment may help offering parents with different psychological vulnerabilities and ressources an equally effective treatment. In addition, the relevance of unspecific interventions and relationship-promoting aspects of the treatment are discussed.