Adding Structured Components to Home Visitation to Reduce Mothers' Risk for Child Maltreatment: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Trudy van der Stouwe; Patty Leijten; Jessica J Asscher; Maja Deković; Claudia E van der Put

doi:10.1007/s10896-023-00509-7

Adding Structured Components to Home Visitation to Reduce Mothers' Risk for Child Maltreatment: a Randomized Controlled Trial

J Fam Violence. 2023 Feb 13:1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10896-023-00509-7. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Trudy van der Stouwe¹, Patty Leijten¹, Jessica J Asscher², Maja Deković², Claudia E van der Put¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Post Box 15776, 1001 NG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
² Clinical Child and Family Studies, Utrecht University, Post Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Purpose: Home visitation program effects are generally small, which may be caused by flexible intervention content leading to inconsistent outcomes. In this study we therefore examined whether the effectiveness of a Dutch home visitation program (i.e., Supportive Parenting) can be improved by adding structured intervention components targeting key risk factors for child maltreatment: parental sense of competence, perceived stress, parental anger, and PTSD symptoms.

Method: Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 74) that received four additional intervention components in two home visits, or a control group (n = 60) that received regular Supportive Parenting. Outcomes were assessed before (T1) and after (T2) the first, and before (T3) and after (T4) the second home visit. Effects were examined using ANCOVA for primary outcomes: parental sense of competence, perceived stress, parental anger, and PTSD symptoms, and secondary outcomes: risk of child maltreatment, parental warmth, and negative parenting. Moderation effects were examined for T1 scores, child temperament and life events.

Results: Mothers who received the intervention components showed less stress compared to the control group at T3 and T4. There were no differences between groups on other outcomes and no moderation effects, although parental sense of competence reduced and anger increased within the experimental group specifically.

Conclusion: The structured components may enhance the effectiveness of Supportive Parenting to reduce parenting stress. Future research into how other outcomes can be improved is needed.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10896-023-00509-7.

Keywords: Child maltreatment prevention; Home visitation program; Increased effect; PTSD symptoms; Parental anger; Parental sense of competence; Perceived stress.