A Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Impact of a Support/Work-Planning Intervention on First-Time Parents' Health, Partner Relationship, and Work Responsibilities

The authors randomly assigned 151 couples expecting their first child to a support/work-planning intervention group or a standard prenatal curriculum group. To evaluate the impact of the intervention, they conducted surveys at baseline and 6-months postpartum to assess mental and physical health, pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2002, Vol.28 (3), p.84-91
Main Authors: Gjerdingen, Dwenda K., Center, Bruce
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Classrooms
Conflict management
Control Groups
Couples
Division of labour
Divorce
Employment - psychology
Experimental Groups
Female
Females
First time
Health Status
Housework
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Intervention
Job Sharing
Longitudinal studies
Male
Management training
Marriage
Marriage Counseling
National Surveys
Parenting
Parents
Parents & parenting
Physical Health
Polls & surveys
postpartum
Postpartum Period
Pregnancy
Quality of life
Randomized Controlled Trials
Research Assistants
Responsibilities
San Francisco
Satisfaction
Sex roles
Social Responsibility
Social Support
Spouses
State Surveys
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
USA
work
Worksheets
Young Children
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Summary:The authors randomly assigned 151 couples expecting their first child to a support/work-planning intervention group or a standard prenatal curriculum group. To evaluate the impact of the intervention, they conducted surveys at baseline and 6-months postpartum to assess mental and physical health, partner satisfaction and caring, work time, housework sharing, and satisfaction with housework sharing. They found no significant group differences on postpartum health or work outcomes, although fathers in the experimental group, in contrast to controls, showed a trend toward less postpartum decline in housework sharing. The study identified a tool to help parents plan their postpartum work responsibilities. The tool, as tested in this trial, did not have a significant impact on parents' work behaviors or health outcomes. Further studies are needed to investigate mechanisms to support young parents during their demanding early childbearing years
ISSN:0896-4289
1940-4026
DOI:10.1080/08964280209596045