Rationale

Theory suggests that when parents believe in their ability to positively influence their children, the children are at lower risk of poor developmental outcome. For this reason, parents’ sense of competence is a common target in early parenting interventions.

Objective

This study assessed effects on parents’ sense of competence, parenting stress, and symptoms of depression from a widely implemented universal and group-based parenting program.

Methods

In total, 1701 families were enrolled and randomised to one of two conditions a) participation in Family Start up Program (FSP), currently implemented at large scale in Denmark, or b) Care as Usual (CAU). FSP aims to empower new parents through knowledge and network. CAU is the public pre- and post-natal care available to families in both conditions. Recruitment was conducted between November 24, 2014, and February 1, 2017 at Aarhus University Hospital, from all incoming pregnant women within one of the larger Danish municipalities. In total, 4313 families were assessed for eligibility. Data were analysed as intention-to-treat and with n = 1255 (74%) mothers and n = 984 (60%) partners who responded at 10 months postpartum.

Results

When randomised to the FSP, 92% of the mothers and 94% of the partners received the intervention attending an average of 8.4 [SD = 3∙4] and 7.9 [SD = 3∙3] group meetings, respectively. The program evaluation data indicated that parents were satisfied with the program. We found no mean differences between FSP and CAU in parental sense of competence, parental stress, or symptoms of depression at 10 months in mothers or partners.

Conclusion

The intervention did not influence parents’ sense of competence even if the parents attended and liked the group meetings. This highlights the need for refinement of either the intervention approach or the expectation to its outcome. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02294968.

中文翻译：

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向父母过渡期间的基于群体的父母支持：随机对照试验的主要结果

基本原理

理论表明，当父母相信自己有能力对孩子产生积极影响时，孩子发育不良的风险就会降低。因此，父母的能力感是早期育儿干预的共同目标。

客观的

本研究评估了广泛实施的普遍和基于群体的育儿计划对父母能力​​感、育儿压力和抑郁症状的影响。

方法

总共有 1701 个家庭被登记并随机分配到以下两个条件之一：a) 参与目前在丹麦大规模实施的家庭启动计划 (FSP)，或 b) 照常护理 (CAU)。FSP 旨在通过知识和网络赋予新父母权力。CAU 是两种情况下的家庭均可获得的公共产前和产后护理。招募于 2014 年 11 月 24 日至 2017 年 2 月 1 日期间在奥胡斯大学医院进行，招募对象是丹麦较大城市之一的所有新来的孕妇。总共评估了 4313 个家庭的资格。数据按意向治疗进行分析，其中n  = 1255 (74%) 名母亲和n  = 984 (60%) 名伴侣在产后 10 个月时做出反应。

结果

当随机分配到 FSP 时，92% 的母亲和 94% 的伴侣接受了干预，平均分别参加了 8.4 [ SD  = 3∙4] 和 7.9 [ SD  = 3∙3] 次小组会议。计划评估数据表明，家长对计划感到满意。我们发现 FSP 和 CAU 在父母能力感、父母压力或母亲或伴侣 10 个月时的抑郁症状方面没有平均差异。

结论

即使家长参加并喜欢小组会议，干预也不影响家长的胜任感。这突出了改进干预方法或对其结果的期望的必要性。ClinicalTrials.gov ID：NCT02294968。