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. 2018 Jun 20;19(1):323.
doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-2707-3.

Follow-up study regarding the medium-term effectiveness of the home-visiting program "Pro Kind" at age 7 years: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Sören Kliem  1 , Malte Sandner  2 , Anna Lohmann  3 , Susan Sierau  4 , Verena Dähne  5 , Annette M Klein  5 , Tanja Jungmann  6
Affiliations

Follow-up study regarding the medium-term effectiveness of the home-visiting program "Pro Kind" at age 7 years: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Sören Kliem et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: Pro Kind is a German adaptation of the US Nurse Family Partnership program. It is an intervention based on home visits targeting first-time mothers from disadvantaged populations. Pro Kind was implemented as a randomized control trial from 2006 to 2012 with N = 755 first-time mothers (TG n = 394, CG n = 391). The 7-8-year follow-up aims to assess the mid-term effects of the program.

Methods/design: Mid-term outcomes are being assessed by trained assessors. In a multimethod approach telephone interviews, on-site interviews, observations and developmental tests will be held in order to assess children's and mothers' life satisfaction, mental health, cognitive and social development, parenting behavior, signs of child abuse or neglect as well as the family's socio-economic status. Furthermore, administrative data will be accessed to obtain information regarding the mother's usage of pediatric health care, welfare usage and employment history.

Discussion: Results regarding the mid-term effects of the intervention from the Pro Kind Follow-up will provide a scientific basis for future primary prevention programs as well as help stakeholders legitimizing early childhood investments.

Trial registration: German Clinical Trial Registration DRKS-ID, ID: DRKS00007554 . Registered on 11 June 2015, updated on 6 October 2017.

Keywords: Follow-up; Home-visiting program; Parenting.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors’ information

SK is a senior researcher and head of the research unit “monitoring of unreported crime” at the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) in Hannover, Germany. He obtained his PhD from Brunswick University where he also held an interim professorship in the Department of Psychological Diagnostics and Psychotherapy. His research interests include parenting interventions, relationship quality, partner violence as well as questionnaire development and validation.

MS obtained a PhD in economics at Leibniz University Hannover. His work concentrates on the economic evaluation of early childhood interventions and other welfare policies. Additionally, he is interested in how these policies affect child development.

SS, PhD is a research associate at the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology and at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics at the University of Leipzig. Her research area covers the topic of traumatization and psychopathology in children and adolescents. In her research projects, she evaluated the effectiveness of a German early intervention program for disadvantaged families, and analyzed biopsychosocial pathways from early maltreatment to internalizing symptoms and disorders. Currently, Dr. Sierau is conducting a study on the mental health of unaccompanied refugee children in Germany.

VD, gained a diploma in psychology at the University of Leipzig in 2013. She used to be a student assistant at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the projects Pro Kind as well as “Analyzing pathways from childhood maltreatment to internalizing symptoms” (AMIS). Since 2013 she has been a PhD student at the Medical Faculty of the University of Leipzig and, since 2014, a research associate at the project Pro Kind Follow-up

AK, PhD, is senior researcher and research coordinator at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics at the University of Leipzig. Her research area covers trajectories of mental health problems in children and adolescents, early risk factors (e.g., parental psychopathology, life events, maltreatment experiences) and social-cognitive capacities.

AL is a research assistant at the criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony. She obtained a Bachelor degree in Mathematics from the University of Hannover and a psychology degree from Hagen University. She is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of the Social and Behavioral Sciences at Utrecht University.

TJ is a professor for language pathology and early development at the University of Rostock. She conducted post-doctoral research in the area of special needs psychology at the Leibniz University of Hanover. TJ obtained her psychology degree and PhD from the University of Bielefeld specializing in developmental psychology.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The Ethics Committee of the German Society for Psychology (DGPs; Registration No.: SK 122014), as well as the Ethics Committee of the University of Leipzig authorized the study’s design and procedure (Az.:406–14-15,122,014). Consent was obtained from all participants. Mothers furthermore provided parental consent prior to assessment of the children. The original consent form as presented to the mother as well as to the child is attached in the file pro-kind_consent.pdf.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schedule of Pro Kind Follow-up
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Intervention’s logic model following Olds [10]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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