Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013 Nov;132 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S167-73.
doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-1021Q.

Randomized trial of a cellular phone-enhanced home visitation parenting intervention

Judith J Carta  1 , Jennifer Burke Lefever, Kathryn Bigelow, John Borkowski, Steven F Warren
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomized trial of a cellular phone-enhanced home visitation parenting intervention

Judith J Carta et al. Pediatrics. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Although home visiting programs have been documented to improve parenting in high-risk families, their effectiveness is diminished when parents disengage from programs. Cellular phones offer an approach to promoting parent engagement and enhancing parenting outcomes. Our objective was to examine whether mothers in a parenting intervention, Planned Activities Training (PAT), or cellular phone-enhanced version (CPAT) of the intervention would demonstrate greater use of parenting strategies after treatment and at 6 months post-treatment compared with a wait-list control (WLC).

Methods: A sample of 371 low-income mothers and their 3.5- to 5.5-year-old children were randomly assigned to condition and assessed at pre-test, post-intervention, and 6 months post-intervention. Treatment efficacy was evaluated through observations of mother-child interactions as well as maternal interviews about depression, parenting stress, and child behaviors.

Results: Mothers receiving PAT and CPAT demonstrated more frequent use of parenting strategies and engaged in more responsive parenting than mothers in the WLC. Mothers receiving CPAT used more PAT parenting strategies than mothers in the other 2 groups and experienced greater reductions in depression and stress. Children of mothers receiving PAT and CPAT demonstrated higher rates of positive engagement, and children of CPAT mothers demonstrated higher levels of adaptive behaviors than children in the WLC. Importantly, changes in parenting, depression, and stress predicted positive child behaviors.

Conclusions: PAT and CPAT conditions improved parenting strategies and child engagement and reduced children's challenging behaviors. The addition of cellular phones to a home visiting program enhanced maternal responsivity and reduced depression and stress.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01294475.

Keywords: externalizing problems; home visitation; internalizing problems; intervention; maternal depression; parenting; parenting stress; randomized controlled trial; technology.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Chaffin M, Hecht D, Bard D, Silovsky JF, Beasley WH. A statewide trial of the SafeCare home-based services model with parents in Child Protective Services. Pediatrics. 2012;129(3):509–515 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Olds DL, Kitzman H, Cole R, et al. . Effects of nurse home-visiting on maternal life course and child development: age 6 follow-up results of a randomized trial. Pediatrics. 2004;114(6):1550–1559 - PubMed
    1. Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, van IJzendoorn MH, Juffer F. Less is more: meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychol Bull. 2003;129(2):195–215 - PubMed
    1. Kaminski JW, Valle LA, Filene JH, Boyle CL. A meta-analytic review of components associated with parent training program effectiveness. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2008;36(4):567–589 - PubMed
    1. Gomby DS. Home visitation in 2005: outcomes for children and parents. Invest in Kids Working Paper. Committee for Economic Development. 2005:7

Publication types

Associated data