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Transition-to-parenthood intervention positively affected children, parents
Family Foundations, a preventive intervention that supports families during the transition to parenthood, had a positive effect on children’s tendency to internalize problems, as reported by their teachers.
“[Family Foundations] focuses on the co-parenting dimension of the couple relationship based on the view that co-parenting is malleable, circumscribed, and represents a causal influence on parenting and child outcomes,” Mark E. Feinberg, PhD, of Penn State University, and colleagues wrote. “Family Foundations … has demonstrated substantial positive program effects on a broad array of parent, child, and family relationship domains through child age 3.”
Researchers randomly assigned 169 couples to participate in the Family Foundations intervention program or receive literature on selecting quality child care and developmental stages in the mail, which served as the control. The intervention program consisted of eight classes; four classes were conducted during the second or third trimester of pregnancy, and the remaining classes occurred during the first few postpartum months. Classes discussed emotional self-management, conflict management, problem solving, communication and mutual support strategies that foster positive joint parenting. Data were collected when children were aged 6 to 8 months via mailed questionnaires, when children were aged 1 and 3 years via home visits, and when children were aged 5 to 7.5 years via mailed surveys to parents and teachers.
The intervention did not significantly impact conduct or emotional problems, according to parent and teacher reports. Teacher reports, however, indicated differences between the intervention and control groups. Children in the intervention group had lower internalizing scores vs. controls (P<.05). Further, the intervention had a significant effect on boys’ externalizing scores, compared with boys in the control group (P<.05).
“Finally, we found that the program buffered the risk conferred by hostile couple conflict during pregnancy on almost all parents and teacher reported outcomes — including internalizing, externalizing, and school adjustment indices,” Feinberg and colleagues wrote. “The results of this study suggest that policymakers and practitioners should explore options for supporting parents through the transition to parenthood.”
Disclosure: Feinberg reports creating the Family Foundations program, and is the owner of a private company, Family Gold, which disseminates the Family Foundations program.
