Poster group
Details of individual items:
poster
Adolescent parenthood is a marker for psychosocial risk both for the mother and thechild. Much current research suggests this risk has its roots in early interactions and the mother-infant relationship. The current study evaluated a home visiting procedure aimed at promotingsecure relationships through enhancing contingent, consistent, and appropriate responses by themother and sought to identify factors that moderate or limit the impact of such intervention foryoung mothers. 100 adolescent mothers and their 6-month old infants were observed at home inorder to provide a baseline of the mother's sensitivity and responsiveness. One-half the dyadswere randomly assigned to an intervention group and received 8 home visits in which the motherwas provided with affirmation of her baby's strengths and of her parenting skills. A second homevisit and an assessment of the attachment relationship were performed at 12 months and a finalfollow-up assessment was performed at 24 months for all participants. The mothers completedthe Adult Attachment Interview at intake and at 24 months. An examination of the main effects of intervention on maternal sensitivity andattachment security revealed modest effects. For example, for the intervention group maternalsensitivity was stable between 6 and 12 months and significantly higher at 24 months. Maternalsensitivity for the comparison group declined significantly between 6 and 12 months and showeda slight, non-significant increase at 24 months but these differences in sensitivity were notreflected by group differences in the frequency of the secure classification. The moreprovocative findings arose from an examination of the moderating effect of abuse history. Information on physical or sexual abuse of the mother by a family member was obtained from thesix-month Adult Attachment Interview and was scored as present in 43% of the cases. Theintervention was effective only for mothers without an identified history of abuse. Interventiongroup mothers with a history of abuse were indistinguishable from mothers in the comparisongroup. Consistent with these differences in sensitivity, there was a higher frequency of secureattachments for the intervention group (63%) than for the comparison group (37%) for motherswithout a history of abuse; this was not the case for mothers with a history of abuse (41% securefor the intervention and 46% for the comparison group). There was a major difference in thecontinuity of the data between home observations and strange situation classifications betweenthe intervention and comparison groups. Consistent with many previous studies, infants insecure relationships in the strange situation were more secure and their mothers more sensitive inthe 12-month home observations of the intervention group. For the comparison group, homeobservations were independent of strange situation classifications. Finally, abuse history wasrelated to attachment disorganization for the intervention group but not for the comparison group. The pattern of results of the study suggest that intervention appeared to normalize thedevelopmental processes for adolescent mothers and their infants in an unexpected manner andthat interaction-based programs of intervention are not likely to be successful with mothers witha history of sexual abuse.
poster
Research shows that the development of communicative abilities in youngchildren depends on the quality of adult-child interactions, and variessubstantially across social class categories (Oller et al., 1995; Snow,1984). In order to promote children's communicative abilities and toprevent language developmental delays, early language intervention programshave been proposed. Researchers have demonstrated that a method of readingpicture books to children, called dialogic reading, can be effective inenhancing children's language skills (Valdez-Menchaca, 1992; Whitehurst etal., 1988). The promotion of children's language abilities, may befacilitated by an intervention that begins before delays occur, and that isproposed to all children from low- and middle-class families, in differentcontexts such as day-care and home.In the present study, the effects of a dialogic book reading program wereexamined in 111 children from low- and middle-income families. Four groupsof children participated to the intervention program : 1) low-incomechildren in a day-care setting (n 3D 25); low-income children in a homesetting (n 3D 38); 3) middle-income children in a day-care setting (n 3D 26);and 4) middle-income children in a home setting (n 3D 22). In the day-caresetting, the intervention was implemented by an educator or a caregiverwith a small group of children. In the home setting, it was implemented bythe parents with their own child. Training focused on the use oflanguage-evocative strategies in a picture book situation that encouragethe child to talk about pictured materials. Also, verbal models contingenton children's verbalizations were taught to the adult readers. They wereasked to do three 10- to 15-minute reading sessions per week with the childor the group of children. Children's receptive and expressive language wasassessed at the beginning of the intervention program (age : M 3D 20.9months), and 12 weeks later (age : M 3D 24.3 months) using the ReynellDevelopmental Language Scales (Reynell & Huntley, 1987). The Reynellscales give standardized receptive and expressive language scores.Results show the effectiveness of the program. Children's languageperformances were higher after 12 weeks of intervention. The increase ofthe scores on language measures was higher for children from middle-classfamilies than for children from low-income families. The intervention waseffective for almost all children, in both home and day-care settings,except for low-income children in the home setting. These results will bediscussed according to the context of intervention, the young age ofchildren, and their SES backgrounds.
poster
Our research has focused on comparison of two models of infantmotherpsychotherapies with a clinic sample. Since not all mothers and infantsnecessarily benefitfrom any particular intervention, it is important to understand whether thereare factors thatcould be identified at the outset of treatment that help to streamline thereferral and treatmentprocess. In this poster, we will examine predictors of the outcome of twopsychotherapeuticinterventions for mothers and infants at the end of treatment and at sixmonthfollowup. Using attachment theory as a starting point, the treatments aimed toeffect relationalchanges between infants and their mothers in different ways. One treatment wasapsychodynamic psychotherapy with the mother in the presence of the infant (PPT)whichhelped mothers to understand current relational difficulties with their infantsin light of theirown relational history. The other treatment was an infantled psychotherapy,Watch, Wait,and Wonder (WWW), which worked at both the behavioral and the mentalrepresentationallevels. In the first half of the session the mother was instructed to followher infant's lead inplay and respond only at his/her infants' initiative. In the second half ofthe session themother was asked to describe her observations and feelings during the playinteraction. The sample included 67 infants aged 1030 months and their mothers. Infantmotherdyads, randomly assigned to one of the two treatments, were seen for 14 onehoursessions. On standardized measures, procedures, and questionnaires, the prepost treatmentcomparisons showed that both psychotherapies resulted in reducing infants'presentingproblems, parenting stress, maternal intrusiveness and infantmother conflict. At the sametime, infants in the WWW group demonstrated a greater shift toward a moreorganized orsecure attachment relationship, a greater improvement in cognitive development,andincreased capacity for self regulation. Mothers in the WWW group weresignificantly lessdepressed and reported a greater increase in parenting competence than mothersin the PPTgroup. At six month followup, the results indicated that gains made in the WWWgroupwere stable or improved further after treatment ended. Additionally, at sixmonth followupmost of the differential outcomes were no longer in evidence. Taken together,the resultssuggest that each treatment achieved an impact but at a different pace andlikely throughdifferent mechanisms. This poster will consider some potential mechanisms by examining fourpredictors ofattachment and infant development outcomes. Predictors include a measure ofsymptomseverity, quality of the motherinfant relationship as measured by the ChatoorPlay Scale(dyadic reciprocity, unresponsiveness, conflict, intrusiveness), maternalpsychologicalfunctioning (Beck Depression Inventory), and the therapeutic alliance (WorkingAllianceInventory). Outcomes considered here will include attachment security (StrangeSituationProcedure) and infant development (Bayley Scales). This work is in progress.All data havebeen collected and analyzed for other presentations. This poster will presenta reanalysis ofthe data to examine predictors of two of the outcomes of infant interventions(attachment anddevelopment).
poster
Support for local solutions to national problems has grown considerablyin recent years. The promise of such community based initiatives is that theyoffer more relevant, integrated, and sustainable programs than centrallyplanned services. This poster will describe the TLC3 Project which is beingcarried out at seven sites across Canada. It builds on existing qualityprograms mostly in low income communities with the short-term ultimate goal ofenhancing children's language and cognitive development. The long-term goal isto promote school readiness and influence public policy around prevention. This poster will provide an overview of the project goals, the site activities,and the evaluation. TLC3 refers to three meanings for the letters T, L, and C andsummarizesthe project aims: Think, Listen, and Communicate, Tender Loving Care, and TheLearning Centres. The seven sites serve 350 to 400 children per year in NovaScotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan (2 sites), Alberta, and BritishColumbia. Site programs are community based, of high quality, and have staffwho can work collaboratively with families and the community. Moreover, thesites represent different cultural demographics (immigrant, First Nations,French Canadian, English Canadian), and types of communities (urban, rural,First Nations reserve). Each site proposed a model for early language-cognitive interventionbased on accepted theory and/or practice. Using the chosen model, each of theseven sites designed an enhancement to their existing community-based programsfor children aged 0 to 5 years that would foster language and cognitivedevelopment within a relational context. The focus is on promotion andprevention rather than treatment of children with identified delays. The mostcommon approaches are parent-child interactional approaches (e.g., The MotherGoose Program; You Make the Difference), classroom approaches (e.g. theHigh/Scope curriculum), and classroom consultation and programming. As well asenhancing early child development, the programs provide practical teachingtools for parents and professionals and create collaborative links betweeninterested partners at both the local and national levels. Supplementaryactivities such as parent groups, caregiver training, and adult literacyprograms also are offered. Using a theory of change approach, evaluation focuses on the specificshort-term outcomes, strategies pursued to achieve them, and the linkagesbetween strategy and outcome. A cluster evaluation planned by theHincks-Dellcrest Institute, the organization managing the project, willsummarize and synthesize project findings through both data analytic techniquesand networking conferences. Local evaluations are designed, planned, andimplemented by site staff with a university-based collaborator. Suchcollaborations help academics appreciate the challenges faced by those workingin the community and, in turn, the community members (including both serviceproviders and families) learn that they can systematically evaluate theoutcomes of their endeavours. This type of collaboration promises to bridgepractice, research, and policy in a meaningful way.
poster
Drug abuse among pregnant women is a national health issue. As a result,more infants are suffering from symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms areassociated with alterations in physiologic and behavioral functioning which makecaregiving difficult. Therefore, it isimperative to investigate nursing interventions that will promoteneurobehavioral functioning in drug-exposed infants. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of a rocking bed withmaternalintrauterine sounds would decrease symptoms of withdrawal and promoteneurobehavioralfunctioning in methadone-exposed infants. A repeated measures design withcontrol andexperimental groups was used. Experimental group infants received the rockingbed therapy.The rocking bed was set on 75% rocking in the normal mode. Control groupinfants remained in a standard nursery bassinet. Fourteen infants were included in the study. Seven of the infants were inthe experimental and 7 in the control group. All infants were exposed tomethadone plus other drugs. Data regarding the severity of withdrawal symptomswas gathered using the Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System Tool (NAS). TheNeonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) was used to evaluate neurobehavioralfunctioning. All infants received oral morphine therapy based on a standardprotocol. Serum plasma levels were drawn twice throughout the study. NAS datawas collected when the infants were 3, 5 and 7 days of age. The NBAS wascompleted on days 3 and 7 of life.Group differences related to the infant's total average withdrawal scores, sleepdisturbance scores,motor scores, NBAS exam and morphine plasma levels weredetermined using ANOVA, Chi-Square and T-Tests. Repeated measures MANOVA was used to examine groupdifferences andtrends in the data over time. Infants in the experimental group were found to have a significant increasein withdrawal symptoms and sleep disturbances on the 7th day of life. Resultsof the NBAS also suggested an increase in irritability and some difficulty withhabituation, in experimental group infants on day 7 of life. There were nosignificant differences between groups regarding the infants plasma morphinelevels. These results suggest that the use of a rocking bed, set on 75% rockingin the normal mode, may not be an optimal setting for decreasing symptoms ofwithdrawal and promoting neurobehavioral functioning in methadone-exposedinfants during the acute period of hospitalization. Further study is requiredusing different settings (possibly lower) to determine if a rocking bed willimprove outcomes for these fragile infants.
poster
We present a newly developed program evaluation protocol for Early HeadStart, a prevention program for low-income families with infants, toddlers,and pregnant women. Briefly, the main goals of Early Head Start are: 1) toenhance children's physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development;2) to enable parents to promote their child's development, enhanceparenting competence, and meet their own goals including economicindependence; 3) by providing individualized child development and parenteducation services; 4) using a plan developed by parents and staff that issupportive and nurturing of families; 5) by recognizing child care needs ofworking families; helping them connect with other service providers; andinvolving parents in policy and decision making. As such, the programevaluation protocol assesses the efficacy of Early Head Start related tochild developmental progress and family achievement of goals. In order to assess child progress, a Developmental Lesson Plan is developedby the Teacher (for children in the center-based program) or the HomeVisitor (for children in the home-based program) in conjunction with thefamily. Goals are chosen based on developmental screening assessment,classroom observation, and family report of the child's strengths andneeds. When relevant, this incorporates goals developed by other serviceagencies (such as Early Intervention). The Developmental Lesson Plan isused to plan and track the child's activities and progress in Early HeadStart-it is a continual 'work in progress' as the child grows and develops. In order to assess family factors, the Family Development Plan isgenerated by the Family Advocate in conjunction with the family. Thisdocument is family-focused, addresses family needs and desired goals, andis a continual 'work-in-progress' while the family is enrolled in EarlyHead Start. Goals are chosen based on overall Early Head Start programgoals in 4 domains: parent self sufficiency; parent promotion of childdevelopment; health and mental health wellness; and program-communityintegration.As part of the Developmental Lesson Plan and the Family Developmental Plan,objective and measurable Goal Levels (from absent to sufficient) areestablished for each goal, rated when the goal is initially identified, andupdated weekly. Specific Accomplishments are developed to help promote andassess progress toward each goal; these are the steps taken towardachieving a goal. Accomplishments are reviewed weekly and rated on a scalefrom 'incomplete- no progress' to 'incomplete-some progress' to 'completed'. We are currently conducting this program evaluation protocol for a localEarly Head Start program which enrolls 108 children. Training andimplementation of the program evaluation protocol are completed, data isbeing generated, and results will be available by July, 2000. In additionto yielding data that describe child developmental progress and family goalachievement, the program evaluation protocol serves an important functionof providing structure to the Early Head Start service delivery system.The process of conducting program evaluation serves to improve quality ofservice provision. It challenges Early Head Start staff to flexiblyaddress child, family, and community needs, to monitor service provisionand utilization, and to objectively evaluate outcomes.
poster
The development of a child and his/her parent is affected by the health of the family of whichthey are members. Family health can be conceptualized as having multiple components whichdefine it as an organism and as part of an ecosystem. Among these components are a family'scoping ability, the interaction among the members, stability in housing and family composition,integrity, resource support, and time management. Families may engage in practices to promoteor advance their health state, restore damaged health, maintain the current state or worsen thehealth status.In this model, Family Health is a pivotal point having been affected by the types of supportavailable to the family and by the interaction of parent and the child (the focus of the Early HeadStart Program). Family Health can be directly influenced by the Early Head Start Program(providing direct services) or indirectly by helping the family to find/use support and bypromoting parent/child relationships. Family Health is also affected by and affects thedevelopment of the child and the parent.The purpose of this poster will be to present preliminary findings of tests of the model, with asample of 184 families enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project in mid-sized community in the state of Michigan, USA. The primary caregivers were on average 22.1years of age (SD 3D 4.76) at the time of enrollment. They were predominantly white (75.6%),single or divorced (79.4%) with high school (35%) or less than high school (43.8%) educationallevels. The median family income was $6902 with on average more than one child in the family.Data were collected at the baseline interviews conducted as soon as possible after enrollment inthe study. This first level analysis will include simple correlations between variables definingthe components as well as exploratory regression and path analyses to discern more complexrelations among the variables and components. As a result of these analyses, the family healthmodel will be refined, retested and confirmed on subsequent data collection. At these later times,it may be possible to identify patterns of program effects.
poster
Dietary recalls of 183 limited income mothers and their infants (4-12 mo) in a mid-sized community in the Midwestern United States were examined to assess how food intakes and patterns discriminated among limited income families in health chaos, maintenance or promotion. Food intakes were grouped by meals and food groups--fruit, vegetable, dairy, meat equivalents, grains, sweets & fats. Because consuming at least one serving of each of the first five food groups is associated with nutritional adequacy, we examined this pattern first. Only 11% of mothers met the goal of eating from all five food groups, with only 30% consuming fruits, 58% vegetables, 68% dairy, 91% meats and 91% grains. The infants' diets will be examined by whether they were fed according to feeding guidelines appropriate to their ages. Most mothers skipped breakfast (46%) and 25% skipped lunch. Fortunately, only one infant failed to get a morning feeding. It is clear from these preliminary findings that health professionals need to encourage daily consumption of convenient, but inexpensive, sources of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods. Two additional research questions follow which we will examine: 1) Are food intakes and patterns related to mothers' body weight and children's growth, hemoglobin and days reported ill? 2) Do mothers and children who get health and nutrition services have better diets and health than those who don't? Findings should inform effectiveness of intervention programs for these populations as well as contribute to a holistic picture of family health practices.
poster
Emotions are biologically prepared communication signals(Emde, 1993), and interpretation by mothers of theirchildren's emotions is of cardinal importance to theirmaternal sensitivity. Ainworth (1974) defined the awarenessand adequate interpretation of the baby's signals andcommunications as two of the four essential components ofsensitivity (the others being responding to themappropriately and quickly).In the Leiden intervention study, 84 first-time mothers wereselected on the basis of their insecure representation ofattachment (as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview,George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985), because they appear to be atrisk for being less sensitive to their infants' signals andfor establishing an insecure attachment relationship withtheir infant (see Van IJzendoorn, 1995, for ameta-analysis). The mothers were randomly assigned to oneout of three groups: a control group and two interventiongroups. Intervention efforts were directed at promotingmaternal sensitivity by means of written information andpersonal video-feedback. In one of the intervention groups,additional discussions about the mothers' early attachmentexperiences took place. Four intervention sessions wereimplemented, between 7 - 10 months after the baby's birth.In order to assess mothers' interpretations of children'semotions, we administered the I FEEL pictures (Emde,Osofsky, & Butterfield, 1993) at 11 months. The instrumentconsists of 30 pictures of babies' facial expressions andmeasures the interpretation of emotions rather than accuracyof perception (Ridgeway, 1993). Several studies reported ondifferent reactions to the pictures of low-risk vshigh-risk mothers (e.g., Zahn-Waxler & Wagner, 1993). Weexpect that, after our intervention, mothers in theintervention groups will respond differently to the picturesthan control mothers. Results concerning interventioneffects will be presented, as well as associations betweenresponses to the I FEEL pictures and maternal sensitivity(measured with Ainsworth's rating scale for sensitiveresponsiveness) during free play at 13 months.
poster
Previous research suggests that quality early childhood experiencesprovided by families and communities can and do positively impactchildren's later outcomes (Sameroff, Bartko, Baldwin, & Seifer, 1998;Scarr, 1998; Scarr, Phillips, & McCartney, 1990). In efforts to evaluatethe impact of a state initiative supporting early childhood programmingsupporting kindergarten readiness at the community level (see Mitchell,1999 for a description), a community in a Northern New England enteredinto a collaborative relationship with the State Department of HumanServices and the university. This community used quantitative andqualitative methods to complete this evaluation with approximately 253families. Quantitative measures included an experimenter-developedassessment of readiness skills and district literacy data administeredduring the fall and spring of the 98 - 99 school kindergarten year tokindergarten students. In addition, a parent questionnaire investigatingearly care experiences, community resources used, and readiness activitiesin the home was developed and administered to parents at kindergartenregistration. In addition to quantitative methods, parent interviews wereconducted with five parents three times over a year previous to theirchild entering kindergarten. Interviews focused upon investigating thecommunity resources parents used to support their parenting and dailyfamily life, the meaning of readiness, the types of activities parentsengaged in to prepare their child for kindergarten, and their perceptionsof the school's readiness for their children. Results of eachmethodological approach were similar: early childhood experiences matterand communities can organize to impact child outcomes at kindergarten.Considering quantitative results, children who participated in careoutside the home performed significantly better on outcome measures atkindergarten than children who were cared for solely at home. Results ofqualitative interviews revealed differential experiences regarding accessto and use of early childhood services, conceptions of readiness, homepractices preparing children for kindergarten, and experiences withcommunity resources. Specifically, these experiences and perceptionsappeared to vary as a function of the demands of parenting and othersources of stress upon the mother. For example, a single parent mother offive children who is working in addition to going to school utilized manymore community services and experienced more stress due to poverty andparenting demands than a married middle income mother with a single child.Families who reported more stress (i.e., poverty, neighborhood problems,and being more reliant upon social services) also reported engaging infewer readiness activities in the home than families with fewer stressors.Definitions of readiness and expectations for needed skills forkindergarten also varied across families. Results suggest bothquantitative and qualitative methods are effective ways to investigate theinfluences of early childhood practices and can be useful to inform policyand practice in early childhood services.
poster
Early intervention in the form of home visitation services tofirst-time mothers and their infants has received wide-scale attention(e.g., Behrman, 1999; Korfmacher, 1999). Many of the well-designedevaluations conducted in the 1970's and 1980's have shown divergent intervention effects based on varying characteristics of the intervention. Nevertheless, many experts advocate home visitation as an effective intervention strategy for improving health, parenting, and life course among nurse home-visited mothers and infants (e.g., Olds et al., 1999); and increasing parenting knowledge, improving parent/child interaction, improving maternal life course, and increasing usage of community services (e.g. Daro et al., 1999; Duggan et al., 1999). Differential effects between adolescent and older mothers have also been reported (Culp et al., 1998). Other researchers have found few benefits (e.g., St. Pierre & Layzer, 1999) and others caution that care should be taken in interpretation and implementation of the programs (e.g., Gomby et al., 1999). Reviewers of this body of research advocate for the necessity of comparison groups and for close monitoring of program implementation in future research. The CBFRS home visitation program, the program evaluated here, utilizes child development specialists as parent educators, who make weekly/biweekly home visits prenatally through the child's first year of life. The manualized curriculum used by the parent educator covers child development, parenting, maternal and infant health, home safety, and community resources. Monitoring of the program model is conducted weekly by utilizing information mailed to the data center by the parent educators on each home visit attempted and completed. This process data is immediately fed back in an efficient way to the site coordinators for use in supervision to ensure high quality program implementation. In addition to the process data, data collection teams, unaware of the hypotheses of the study and uninvolved in the implementation of the program, collect outcome data in the parents' home when the babies are 6- and 12-months old. In the present study only the 6-month-old data will be presented. 154 intervention and 115 comparison mothers provided data for analyses. Analyses of baseline demographic data revealed no significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups with respect to mothers' age, (M19.5 years, SD3.8); marital status (65% single); race (70% Caucasian, 12% Native American, 10% African American); education (M11.8 years, SD2.0); or income (70% of had incomes less than $20,000.00). Analyses utilizing descriptive statistics and MANOVA (see Table 1) revealed that the intervention group is utilizing more community services; has a better understanding of the effects of smoking on their child's health; has higher parenting knowledge regarding developmental expectations and use of corporal punishment; are more accepting of the baby and provide a more organized and predictable environment than the comparison group. Following the recommendations made by reviewers of previous home visitation research, the current study carefully monitored program implementation and employed a well-defined comparison group. While very few studies have reported effects as early as when the babies are 6-months-old, with tight controls, we have found differences at 6 months. Implications for application and future research will be presented. Funding for this project is provided by the Oklahoma State Departmentof Health, Office of Child Abuse PreventionReferencesBavolek, S. J. (1984). Handbook for the Adult-Adolescent ParentingInventory (AAPI). Park City, UT: Family Development Resources, Inc.Behrman, R. E. (Ed.). (1999). Home visiting: Recent programevaluations. The Future of Children 9 (1). Caldwell, B., & Bradley, R. H. (1984). Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. Little Rock: University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Culp, A. M., Culp, R. E., Blankemeyer, M., & Passmark, L. (1998). Parent education home visitation program: Adolescent and nonadolescent mother comparison after six months of intervention. Infant Mental Health Journal, 19, 111-123. Daro, D., & Harding, K. (1999). Healthy Families America: Using research to enhance practice. The Future of Children, 9, 152-176. Duggan, A., McFarlane, E. C., Windham, A. M., Rohde, C. A., Saalkeuer, A., Fuddy, L., Rosenberg, L. A., Buchbinder, S. B. and Sia, C. C. J. (1999). Evaluation of Hawaii's Healthy Start Program, The Future of Children, 9, 66-90.Korfmacher, J. (1999). Home visiting: Promise and peril. The Signal. 7, 1-8. Olds, D., Henderson, C. R., Kitzman, H. J., Eckenrode, J. J., Cole, R. E., Tatelbaum, R.C. (1999). Prenatal and infancy home visitation by nurses: Recent findings. The Future of Children, 9, 44-65. St. Pierre, R. G., & Layzer, J. I. (1999). Using home visits for multiple purposes: The comprehensive child development program, The Future of Children, 9, 134-151.Table 1Effects of home visitation services when child is 6 months oldInterventionComparison Statisticpn 154n 115T-testNumber of Community Resources8.276.97t 4.5.001MANOVASmoking Knowledge Baby weigh less at birth More likely to get colds Negative effects: brain growth Negative effects: school performance75%80%56%51%75%69%41%32%F 3.7F 0.01F 3.8F 6.3F 9.8.02 ns.05.01.002Parenting Knowledge (Bavolek, 1984): Empathy Developmental Expectations Noncorporal Punishment Parent/child role understanding32.621.035.0930.532.320.433.8130.2F 1.5F 0.7F 3.1 F 4.2F 0.5.21 ns.07.04 nsHOME Scale (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984): Acceptance Involvement Learning materials Organization Responsivity6.98.17.55.410.36.67.87.25.110.1F 2.6F 8.7F 1.5F 2.5F 5.8F 1.6.03.003 ns ns.02.ns
poster
Background: The stresses of adolescence in combination with the stresses ofparenting make sensitive and responsive caregiving a challenge foradolescent parents. Consequently the children of adolescents are vulnerableto less than optimal developmental outcomes.Objectives: To conduct a pilot study of an intervention designed toimprove: (1) the quality of interaction and contingent responsivenessbetween adolescent mothers and infants, and (2) infant social and cognitivedevelopment.Methods: A mixed factorial design was used. Eighteen first time adolescentparents aged 15-19 years, received either the Keys to Caregiving (NCAST,1990) intervention program in combination with social support strategies ora control program consisting only of social support. Both programsconsisted of six weekly home visits, beginning in the infants' first weekof life. Parent-infant interactions and contingent responsiveness duringteaching and feeding were assessed with the Nursing Child AssessmentSatellite Training Feeding and Teaching Scales (Sumner & Spietz, 1995a;1995b) when infants were 7 to 9 weeks and 11-13 weeks of age. At 11 to 13weeks infant cognitive development was assessed with the Bayley Scales ofMental Development Index (Bayley, 1993) and the Visual Expectation ParadigmTest (Haith, 1993).Results: ANOVA and independent t-tests were used to analyse the data. Theresults suggest that the Keys to Caregiving program resulted insignificantly better and more contingently responsive interactions, as wellas improvements in infants' cognitive ability, when compared to the controlgroup. Moreover, the advantage was maintained for a 6 to 7 week periodpost-intervention.Conclusion: This pilot study offers support for using the Keys toCaregiving program in combination with parent support strategies to enhanceinfant development, pending further study with a larger sample.