Reference Catalog

Improving Adolescent Parenting: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Home Visiting Program for Young Families

Francine Jacobs, M. Ann Easterbrooks, Jessica Goldberg, Jayanthi Mistry, Erin Bumgarner, Maryna Raskin, Nathan Fosse, and Rebecca Fauth

• Healthy Families America (HFA)

Objectives: Our aim was to estimate the effects of Healthy Families Massachusetts, a statewide home visiting program serving first-time adolescent parents, on parenting, child development, educational attainment, family planning, and maternal health and well-being. Methods: We used a randomized controlled trial design to randomly assign the 704 participants to a group receiving home visiting services or a control group. Between 2008 and 2012, telephone and in-person interviews were conducted and administrative data obtained at 12 and 24 months after enrollment. Intention-to-treat analyses compared group differences across 5 outcome domains: parenting, child health and development, educational and economic achievement, family planning, and parental health and well-being. Results: The home visiting program had a positive influence on parenting stress, college attendance, condom use, intimate partner violence, and engagement in risky behaviors. No negative findings were observed. Conclusions: A paraprofessional home visiting program specifically targeting young mothers appears effective in domains of particular salience to young parents and their infants and toddlers. Expanding participation in the program appears a worthy goal for program administrators and policymakers. (author abstract)

Finished

• Participant, Family, and Program Outcomes