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Sunday, 30 October 2011: 12:00 AM
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to analyze the benefits of mother-peer teaching and the use of the American Sign Language in client health education.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to discuss the feasibility and utility of the newly tested interventions in one's own practice.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of a blended infant massage- parenting enhancement program (IMPEP) on parenting stress, self-esteem, and maternal-infant interaction among recovering substance-abusing mothers (SAMs). The adverse effects of perinatal substance abuse are complex, including heightened maternal stress, altered self esteem, and limited parenting effectiveness. Impaired infant development can result from failure to establish positive mother- infant interactions. This study used a randomized, controlled three-group design with repeated measures over time, comparing the impact of 2 levels of treatment and control conditions on maternal health outcomes. The procedures sequenced as follows: a) informed consent and baseline assessment (T1); b) 4 weekly IMPEP or PEP intervention sessions; c) post intervention assessment (T2); and d) follow-up assessment (T3). The data, collected using Abidin’s Parenting Stress Scale (PS), Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (SE), Mueller’s Maternal-Infant Attachment Scale (MIA), and Background Information Questionnaire, were analyzed with descriptive, Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA, and post hoc MANN-Whitney U tests. The sample was composed of 37% Black, 17% Hispanic, and 41% White; the majority being single and had completed 7-12 years of education. Study groups differed in SE level in favor of the IMPEP. Both IMPEP and PEP groups showed significant within-group changes in parenting stress as compared to the Control group. IMPEP SAMs showed significantly greater attachment to their infants at T2 and T3. Both treatment groups showed significant difference in MIA as compared to the control. The IM factor appears to have value-added effect on maternal health comes. Incorporation of psychomotor activity, e.g., infant massage, in parenting skills enhancement programs may prove to be beneficial. It behooves health care professionals to develop cost-effective means of parenting skills enhancement, building upon the natural components of early mother-infant interactions. Global replication of the study merits consideration to establish the generalizability of the findings.
See more of: Research Related to Women's Health Care Issues
See more of: Oral Paper & Poster: Science Sessions
See more of: Oral Paper & Poster: Science Sessions