TY - JOUR
T1 - Supplementation of urban home visitation with a series of group meetings for parents and infants
T2 - Results of a "real-world" randomized, controlled trial
AU - Constantino, John N.
AU - Hashemi, Nahid
AU - Solis, Ellen
AU - Alon, Tal
AU - Haley, Sandra
AU - McClure, Stephanie
AU - Nordlicht, Nita
AU - Constantino, Michele A.
AU - Elmen, Julie
AU - Carlson, Vicki Kay
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the US Department of Justice (Operation Weed & Seed) and the Deaconess Foundation, Saint Louis, MO.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Objective: Home visitation has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of child maltreatment and in enhancing psychosocial outcomes in children and their parents. Even when available, however, it is underutilized by parents in some urban settings. We tested a supplemental 10-session group intervention for its ability to increase active participation in home visitation, enhance the quality of caregiving behavior of parents, and improve social developmental outcome in children. Method: A randomized controlled design was utilized, involving two separate cohorts of parents of 3- to 18-month old infants, totaling 148 parent-child dyads. The intervention focused on practical experience in promoting parent-infant attachment relationships. Results: At 6 months follow-up, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of intervention group parents participating in home visitation, compared to parents in the control group (Fisher's exact p = .008). Parents in the intervention group exhibited a trend for improvement in their capacity to appropriately interpret infants' emotional cues (p = .08), independent of the effects of home visitation itself. Attrition in both the treatment and control groups was inversely associated with income and level of education. Conclusions: Group meetings may constitute an effective means of engaging stressed urban families in home visitation.
AB - Objective: Home visitation has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of child maltreatment and in enhancing psychosocial outcomes in children and their parents. Even when available, however, it is underutilized by parents in some urban settings. We tested a supplemental 10-session group intervention for its ability to increase active participation in home visitation, enhance the quality of caregiving behavior of parents, and improve social developmental outcome in children. Method: A randomized controlled design was utilized, involving two separate cohorts of parents of 3- to 18-month old infants, totaling 148 parent-child dyads. The intervention focused on practical experience in promoting parent-infant attachment relationships. Results: At 6 months follow-up, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of intervention group parents participating in home visitation, compared to parents in the control group (Fisher's exact p = .008). Parents in the intervention group exhibited a trend for improvement in their capacity to appropriately interpret infants' emotional cues (p = .08), independent of the effects of home visitation itself. Attrition in both the treatment and control groups was inversely associated with income and level of education. Conclusions: Group meetings may constitute an effective means of engaging stressed urban families in home visitation.
KW - Attachment
KW - Home visitation
KW - Public health
KW - Randomized controlled trial
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035677231&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00292-7
DO - 10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00292-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 11814156
AN - SCOPUS:0035677231
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 25
SP - 1571
EP - 1581
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
IS - 12
ER -