Catarina Furmark
Phd Student
E-mail: catarina.furmark@ki.se
Visiting address: ALB, Q2:07, 17176 Stockholm
Postal address: K6 Kvinnors och barns hälsa, K6 Neuropediatrik Broström, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- I am a clinical psychologist and graduated 2010 from Stockholm University.
I teach Developmental Psychology and Attachment and Affect theory at the
Psychological Department at Stockholm university as well as at the Karolinska
Institute. I also teach DC:0-3R.
Research
- Currently I hold a PhD position at the KBH unit of Karolinska Institute,
where I am a part of the research team for the Small Step intervention for
infants at risk of developing cerebral palsy and their families.
SMALL STEP early intervention program
Children with early brain lesions are at risk of developing cerebral palsy
(CP). The brain lesions resulting in CP typically appear during pregnancy or
around birth. This has a drastic impact not just on the infant at risk but
also on the whole family. There is a lack of evidence whether early
interventions for infants at risk for developing CP have a positive effect on
infant development. As the field of neuroscience has demonstrated that there
is a possible window of opportunity early in development, when high activity
in the motor system can lead to activity-dependent plasticity, interventions
for infants at risk for CP aim to make use of neuroplastic mechanisms. The
Small Step intervention consists of separate blocks of intensive training for
the infant, focusing on hand use, mobility and communication. The
intervention also includes family support, coaching and education, as the
parents’ psychological health and ability to come to terms with the new
life situation is believed to be of importance. Studies indicate that there
is a heightened risk for parents to experience high levels of stress as well
as depressive and anxiety related symptoms following traumatic birth and risk
for brain injury. Parental depression, anxiety and distress can alter early
interactions. Fear for the infant’s immediate safety and future
development, separations caused by the need for extensive hospital care are
some factors that may impact parental mental health. Optimal development of
the infant-parent relationship could also be at risk, which in turn may
hamper infant development. Studies of the importance of early support for
families with preterm infants at risk have provided valuable insights, but
this is not sufficiently studied in families with infants at risk for CP. The
proposed doctoral plan includes two studies on infant development following
early intervention addressing hand use, mobility and communication and two
studies mapping parental aspects in families with infants at risk of
developing CP. The significance of the doctoral studies is expansion of
current knowledge concerning efficacy of early interventions for infants at
risk of developing CP. Moreover, the exploration of parental mental health
and internal representations (i.e. how parents reflect and express thoughts
and feelings about their child) of infants at risk of developing CP expands
the knowledge within this field. Thirdly, the doctoral project investigates
how participation in an early intervention programme may affect parental
mental health, parent-child interaction as well as parental internal
representations. The overall aim of the doctoral project is to extend
knowledge of the effects of participating in an early intervention program
from both the infants’ and the parents’ perspective in families where the
infant is at risk for developing CP. More specifically the aim is - 1) to
evaluate the effects of the Small Step intervention on the overall
development of the infants over time and between study groups, 2) to map
parental levels of depression, anxiety and stress and 3) to increase
knowledge of parental representations, parental sensitivity and quality of
interaction. Data will be compared over time within respective group as well
as between groups.