Development, Feasibility and Acceptability of Fathers and Babies (FAB): A Pilot Study
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Depression, Depression, Women's Studies |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Psychiatry / Psychology, Reproductive |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 18 - Any |
| Updated: | 4/17/2018 |
| Start Date: | February 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | December 2018 |
| Contact: | Jaime Hamil, MPH |
| Email: | jaime.hamil@northwestern.edu |
| Phone: | 312-503-2645 |
Integrating Text Messages Into the Mothers and Babies Course to Address Depression in Low-Income Women and Their Partners
During this project the investigators will develop and pilot test a companion intervention
for fathers (Fathers and Babies-FAB), to supplement the Mothers and Babies Course (MB) that
provides stress and mood management tools for home visiting clients. Focus groups with prior
study participants, their male partners, and home visiting staff will be used to develop the
FAB curriculum and protocol. FAB text messages aim to improve the mental health of the male
partner and help him support his partner's mental health. Feasibility, acceptability, and
outcome measures will be supplemented with assessments of fathers' mental health and
partners' relationships. Participant assessments will be conducted at baseline, 3 and 6
months in this uncontrolled pilot study. The public health significance and innovation of
this project is substantial. If the investigators are able to integrate MB-TXT and MB-DAD
into home visiting programs and generate improved mental health outcomes for home visiting
clients and their partners, the investigators will be prepared to replicate this intervention
across home visiting programs nationally at a time when home visitation as a service delivery
model for families with infants and young children is rapidly proliferating through federal
funding.
for fathers (Fathers and Babies-FAB), to supplement the Mothers and Babies Course (MB) that
provides stress and mood management tools for home visiting clients. Focus groups with prior
study participants, their male partners, and home visiting staff will be used to develop the
FAB curriculum and protocol. FAB text messages aim to improve the mental health of the male
partner and help him support his partner's mental health. Feasibility, acceptability, and
outcome measures will be supplemented with assessments of fathers' mental health and
partners' relationships. Participant assessments will be conducted at baseline, 3 and 6
months in this uncontrolled pilot study. The public health significance and innovation of
this project is substantial. If the investigators are able to integrate MB-TXT and MB-DAD
into home visiting programs and generate improved mental health outcomes for home visiting
clients and their partners, the investigators will be prepared to replicate this intervention
across home visiting programs nationally at a time when home visitation as a service delivery
model for families with infants and young children is rapidly proliferating through federal
funding.
Enhancements to Mothers and Babies are warranted to address the mental health of both
parents, via the home visitation service delivery model where many of the most at-risk
families enter into provider-client relationships during their child's infancy and early
childhood.
Previous postpartum depression preventive interventions—including MB—have neglected to
intervene with partners of pregnant women, despite the growing recognition that paternal
depression also exerts influence on children's social-emotional development and occurs in a
similar time-frame. Thus, in an otherwise successful intervention, these limitations—mixed
success in improving hypothesized intervention mechanisms and limited engagement of
fathers—may mitigate intervention efficacy. Paternal depression is hypothesized to mediate
the relationship between MB modules and maternal mental health outcomes.
This study addresses this limitation. The investigators will collaborate with 10-12 home
visiting (HV) programs serving primarily low-income families. The investigators will recruit
24 mother-father dyads for an uncontrolled pilot in which mothers will receive MB-TXT and
fathers will receive FAB, a pilot curriculum developed using existing materials and data
collected via qualitative research with home visiting clients, their partners, and home
visiting staff.
Aim 1. To develop and determine the feasibility and acceptability of a) conducting the MB-DAD
intervention protocol and b) assessing paternal and dyadic outcomes across two home visiting
programs. Focus groups with prior trial participants, their male partners, and home visiting
staff will generate information on a) intervention content, b) frequency of contact, and c)
relationship to MB materials received by their partner.
parents, via the home visitation service delivery model where many of the most at-risk
families enter into provider-client relationships during their child's infancy and early
childhood.
Previous postpartum depression preventive interventions—including MB—have neglected to
intervene with partners of pregnant women, despite the growing recognition that paternal
depression also exerts influence on children's social-emotional development and occurs in a
similar time-frame. Thus, in an otherwise successful intervention, these limitations—mixed
success in improving hypothesized intervention mechanisms and limited engagement of
fathers—may mitigate intervention efficacy. Paternal depression is hypothesized to mediate
the relationship between MB modules and maternal mental health outcomes.
This study addresses this limitation. The investigators will collaborate with 10-12 home
visiting (HV) programs serving primarily low-income families. The investigators will recruit
24 mother-father dyads for an uncontrolled pilot in which mothers will receive MB-TXT and
fathers will receive FAB, a pilot curriculum developed using existing materials and data
collected via qualitative research with home visiting clients, their partners, and home
visiting staff.
Aim 1. To develop and determine the feasibility and acceptability of a) conducting the MB-DAD
intervention protocol and b) assessing paternal and dyadic outcomes across two home visiting
programs. Focus groups with prior trial participants, their male partners, and home visiting
staff will generate information on a) intervention content, b) frequency of contact, and c)
relationship to MB materials received by their partner.
Inclusion Criteria:
English-speaking women >18 years old enrolled in home visiting programs who are in their
1st or 2nd or 3rd Trimester will be eligible for enrollment
Male partners of English-speaking women >18 years old enrolled in home visiting programs
who are in their 1st or 2nd or 3rd Trimester will be eligible for enrollment
Note: Both parents/partners are required to participate in this study, not just one or the
other.
We found this trial at
1
site
303 East Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Principal Investigator: Darius Tandon, PhD
Phone: 312-503-2645
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