Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-27-2025
Publication Title
Infant Mental Health Journal: Infancy and Early Childhood
Abstract
Structural inequities in the United States limit access to prenatal parenting education and supports for many pregnant people and their partners. This pilot trial aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel partner-inclusive intervention on new parents’ knowledge of developmentally appropriate early parenting practices. Forty-two participants were assigned to the 6-week group intervention and 38 participants were assigned to a usual care comparison group. The sample was racially and ethnically diverse and participants were required to meet study income restrictions. Participants were interviewed at three time points: Time 1 (pre-intervention; 12–18 weeks gestation), Time 2 (post-intervention;18–24 weeks gestation), and Time 3 (6 weeks postnatal) to assess knowledge regarding infant development and parenting practices, parenting self-competence, parenting stress, and the coparenting relationship. Dyadic Hierarchical Linear Models were used to test whether the intervention was associated with changes and levels in parenting readiness. Results revealed that parent dyads reported increased knowledge of infant development, increased parenting self-competence, and less parenting stress following the intervention relative to comparison group participants. No significant intervention effects were observed for the coparenting relationship. The accessible nature of the PREParing for Parenthood program makes it a promising intervention to promote parenting readiness among pregnant people and their partners.
Volume
46
Issue
6
First Page
633
Last Page
652
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Rights
Licensed to Smith College and distributed CC-BY 4.0 under the Smith College Faculty Open Access Policy.
Version
Author's Accepted Manuscript
Recommended Citation
Herman, Rachel J.; Barcala-Delgado, Diego I.; Rowley, Christina A.; Craft, Alexandrea L.; Pruett, Marsha Kline; Byatt, Nancy; and Perry-Jenkins, Maureen, "Partner-Inclusive Prenatal intervention to Promote Parenting Readiness: Results from a Pilot Trial" (2025). School for Social Work: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/ssw_facpubs/84