7/7: Today, for our BRISE series, we spoke with Dr. Thorsten Macha. He has been a family mentor since the very beginning and visits the BRISE families in their everyday lives. As a psychologist, he has been studying child development for 25 years.
Dr. Macha, you are a psychologist. How did you come to your profession?
"At school, I had a strong focus on science, taking advanced courses in math and physics. That's why I was so interested in the technical field. I visited universities and campuses offering mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and other programs, and quickly realized: I didn't want to spend several years there.".
Then I went to the student advisory service and, thanks to a long waiting list, was able to start my psychology studies at the University of Bremen quite quickly. Working with families with young children wasn't actually my first goal – although at the time, as the head of a single-parent household, I had a natural interest in child development
How long have you been working as a psychologist?
"I have been working in the field of psychology at the University of Bremen since 1997, so for about 25 years now. I have always remained true to my focus. The good thing is that it never gets boring. In research, there are always new tasks, new projects, always more to understand. I deal with questions such as 'What are family resources?' and have also researched developmental problems, conditioning factors, and risk constellations – just a few examples."
When did you become a family companion at BRISE?
"Since 2016, I have worked as a research assistant for the BRISE long-term study. So I've been a family mentor from the very beginning. The oldest children I've mentored in this context are now four years old – and I've been a family mentor for just as long.".
It is important to us that the children and their families do not come into contact with a stranger every time they interact with them. However, scientific support from BRISE does not mean that we offer concrete assistance to the families. That is what the programs are for, and the Bremen family network provides information about them
How often do you have contact with the families and what do you do during that time?
"Ideally, I first make contact with the family shortly before the child is born. The next appointment takes place when the child is three months old. Then follow appointments when the child is seven months old and on their first birthday. In total, there are four appointments in the first year, and all of them are home visits. Since the start of the pandemic, this has often been impossible, of course. We then talk to the families by phone or video call. The appointment at seven months is then combined with an invitation to the BRISE research lab.".
I visit the families regularly and ask them various questions, such as what their daily routine with the child currently looks like – that's the scientific part. We use questionnaires for this. But direct observations also take place. For example, during some home visits, I ask the families to arrange a play situation so that we can get a concrete insight into how parents and child typically interact when they play together.
During visits to the BRISE research lab, we examine various abilities in children. We have excellent technical resources, such as an EEG* room. For an EEG, or electroencephalography, the child wears a cap equipped with many small sensors. These sensors measure the natural electrical activity on the surface of the head – from this, we can infer the child's brain activity. For example, this allows us to determine what sparks the interest of even infants.
An example:
When parents look at a picture book with their child and read to them, we film the situation. We use a special camera that precisely records the child's eye movements. If the mother then asks her child where "the car" is on a monitor, it can be accurately determined whether the child is actually looking at the car – or at another object.
This allows us to track language development from a very early age. What exactly the children and parents do when they contact us depends on the child's age. We use a wide variety of situations and methods to observe and understand the developmental processes
What would be your favorite finding after ten years of looking back on the BRISE research project?
“For 25 years I have been working with child development. I often only came into contact with families after a problem had been identified. The goal of BRISE, as an initiative in the city of Bremen, is to prevent such problems as effectively as possible. The opportunity to accompany this initiative with a long-term scientific study allows us, within a research network, to investigate how developmental problems can be identified as early as possible.”.
And indeed, after ten years we can better understand the stresses and risk factors for child development – and thus hopefully better prevent them.”
What, in your opinion, is a good parental trait?
"Parents shouldn't feel they have to do everything alone, know everything, or be able to do everything. Besides their own social networks, there are great resources for children of all ages and their parents, which can be found, for example, at the family network website. Seeking support also benefits children, even if the focus is initially on the parents. Because when parents are doing well, it's naturally easier for them to take good care of their children."
Dr. Thorsten Macha is a BRISE family support worker in southern Bremen. The clinical psychologist specializing in child and adolescent psychology is a research associate at the University of Bremen and has been working on the BRISE project since 2017.
