Young children's social–emotional development is powerfully shaped by their early environments, which for many includes early childhood education (ECE). Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) pairs teachers and infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) consultants to promote teachers’ capacity to foster positive social–emotional development in ECE. Although the outcomes of IECMHC have been well studied, little research has investigated how this model leads to changes for teachers and children. According to theory, the quality of the relationship between teachers and IECMH consultants, termed consultative alliance (CA), is a key mechanism of change. This study analyzed the role of CA on 6‐month outcomes of IECMHC in a sample of 316 children, 289 teachers, and 62 IECMH consultants. Results from multilevel models suggested that stronger CA predicted greater improvements in teacher–child closeness and teacher‐rated child attachment behaviors. In addition, a strong CA was related to greater improvement in classroom climate, teachers’ self‐efficacy, and teachers’ perceptions of their jobs. This study upholds the centrality of relationship‐building and parallel process in mental health consultation, and by advancing understanding of the mechanisms of change for IECMHC may provide salient implications for policy and practice.

中文翻译：

---

咨询联盟在婴幼儿心理健康咨询中的作用：儿童、教师和课堂结果

幼儿的社会情感发展受到他们早期环境的有力影响，其中许多环境包括幼儿教育 (ECE)。婴儿和幼儿心理健康咨询 (IECMHC) 将教师和婴儿和幼儿心理健康 (IECMH) 顾问配对，以提高教师在 ECE 中培养积极的社会 - 情感发展的能力。尽管 IECMHC 的结果已经得到很好的研究，但很少有研究调查如何这种模式导致教师和儿童发生变化。根据理论，教师和 IECMH 顾问之间关系的质量，称为咨询联盟 (CA)，是变化的关键机制。本研究在 316 名儿童、289 名教师和 62 名 IECMH 顾问的样本中分析了 CA 对 IECMHC 6 个月结果的作用。多层次模型的结果表明，更强的 CA 预测师生亲密度和教师评价的儿童依恋行为有更大的改善。此外，强大的 CA 与课堂气氛、教师的自我效能感和教师对工作的看法的更大改善有关。本研究坚持建立关系和平行过程在心理健康咨询中的核心地位，