NCJ Number
218625
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2007 Pages: 120-129
Date Published
March 2007
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a childcare skills intervention program for at-risk mothers and their babies.
Abstract
Results indicated that childcare skills improved for all four mothers who took part in the bathing intervention. Follow-up assessments revealed that bathing skills were maintained above the criterion level following the intervention. On the other hand, results from the feeding intervention did not show consistent improvement across mothers. Although goals were met during the intervention, the goals for feeding were maintained at follow-up for only two of the mothers. Despite differences in outcomes found between the bathing and feeding interventions, the findings do suggest that parenting skills training can be used to assess and improve basic childcare skills. The findings also suggest, however, that if childcare skills are not maintained, more serious difficulties in parenting may arise. Future research should explore whether feeding skills offer a better predictor of neglect than bathing skills. Participants were six 16- to 25-year-old mothers and their six 1- to 6-month-old children who were residing in a social services unit that provided comprehensive parenting skills assessments and training to young mothers and their children due to serious concerns about the child’s welfare. All mothers experienced long-term involvement with social services due to maltreatment in their own childhood. The research involved a task analysis of two basic physical childcare tasks: bathing and feeding and safety steps, which were adapted to the child’s age and were verified according to cultural relevance. Baseline assessment observations were conducted at intake and follow-up assessments were conducted daily for feeding and weekly for bathing for 2 weeks. Anecdotal evidence on feeding and bathing behaviors was provided by staff for 6 months following the intervention. Figures, references