Connect to Baby: A Pilot Study of a Parenting and Coparenting Program for New Parents

项目摘要 拟议中的技术增强的共同养育和养育干预的随机对照试验， 解决了现有育儿计划的三个关键弱点，1）针对母亲和父亲，而不是 2）关注共同养育和父母-婴儿关系，而不仅仅是父母-婴儿关系 互动;以及3）使用技术来提高计划保留率和参与度。我们的团队利用 两种循证干预措施的内容与独特的技术特征相结合， 新干预：连接到婴儿（CTB），6个会话的手动干预。养育子女和共同养育子女 选择质量作为其对婴儿和儿童发展的战略影响的目标：偶然的， 父母和婴儿之间的反应性互动与更好的终身社会情感和 认知结果。同样，支持性共育关系和协调与以下因素有关： 提高父母的心理健康、养育质量以及儿童的社会情感和认知成果。一 CTB的关键创新在于引入和演练了四种互动技能--注意，跟随， 交谈和鼓励--培养服务和回报与婴儿的互动以及支持， 母亲和父亲之间的相互合作。为了最大限度地扩大项目覆盖面， 可持续发展，CTB的目的是在早期开端（EHS），一个家庭服务机构的父母交付 现在使用和信任。最后，CTB使用一种混合的面对面和远程交付方式，既使用视频， 支持平板电脑和定制的应用程序，以安排会议和共享数字内容， 保持和参与。使用随机对照试验，作为EHS一部分的CTB的疗效 （EHS-CTB混合）将与仅含数字内容的EHS（仅EHS数字）进行比较;两组均 允许访问CTB提供的定制应用程序和数字内容，但仅限EHS-CTB混合 小组将接受计划会议，指导实践和NiFTE技能发展的反馈。研究 将在3个月和6个月时评估项目对共同养育沟通质量和养育质量的影响 后随机分配，以区分该计划的即时效果和持续效果。分析将包括 意向治疗（ITT）和治疗中治疗（TOT）分析，以确定项目的重要性 剂量为方案功效。CTB还将评估父母的心理健康（养育压力 和抑郁症）以及儿童的社会情感和语言结果。如果证明是有效的，CTB将 提供EHS，在全国最大的联邦资助的早期教育计划，与一个简短的，具有成本效益， 可与EHS中心和家访结合使用的手动预防干预 提供服务，以提高养育质量和共同养育，让父亲参与规划和教育， 最终促进儿童发展。这项研究还将提供一些关于可行性的初步证据， 在干预的每一个阶段都让父亲留在育儿项目中。

Project Abstract The proposed randomized control trial of a technology-enhanced coparenting and parenting intervention, addresses three key weaknesses in existing parenting programs by 1) targeting mothers and fathers, rather than mothers alone; 2) focusing on both the coparenting and parent-infant relationship, not just parent-infant interactions; and 3) using technology to enhance program retention and engagement. Our team leveraged content from two evidence-based interventions in combination with unique technological features to create a novel intervention: Connect to Baby (CTB), a 6-session manualized intervention. Parenting and coparenting quality are selected as targets for their strategic influence on infant and child development: contingent, responsive interactions between parents and infants are associated with better lifelong socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. Similarly, supportive coparenting relationships and coordination are associated with enhanced parent mental health, parenting quality, and children’s socioemotional and cognitive outcomes. A key innovation of CTB lies in the introduction and rehearsal of four interaction skills –– Noticing, Following, Talking, and Encouraging –– to foster serve and return interactions with infants as well as supportive, cooperative coparenting interactions between mothers and fathers. To maximize program reach and sustainability, CTB is designed to be delivered within Early Head Start (EHS), a family-serving agency parents already use and trust. Finally, CTB uses a hybrid in-person and remote delivery modality using both video- enabled tablets and a custom-built application to schedule sessions and share digital content to boost program retention and engagement. Using a randomized controlled trial, the efficacy of CTB delivered as part of EHS (EHS-CTB hybrid) will be compared to EHS with the digital content only (EHS-digital only); both groups will be given access to the customized application and digital content that CTB offers, but only the EHS-CTB hybrid group will receive program sessions with guided practice and feedback on NiFTE skill development. The study will assess program impacts on coparenting communication quality and parenting quality at 3- and 6-months post-random assignment to distinguish immediate from sustained effects of the program. Analyses will include both intent-to-treat (ITT) and treatment-on-the-treated (TOT) analyses to determine the importance of program dosage for program efficacy. CTB will also be assessed with regard to parent mental health (parenting stress and depression) and child socioemotional and language outcomes. If demonstrated to be efficacious, CTB will provide EHS, among the nation’s largest federally-funded early education programs, with a brief, cost-effective, manualized preventive intervention that could be used in conjunction with EHS center and home-visiting services to improve parenting quality and coparenting, engage fathers in programming and caregiving, and, ultimately, enhance child development. This study will also offer some of the first evidence as to the feasibility of retaining fathers in parenting programs at every stage of an intervention.