Perrow, Kim (2014) The Effect of a Responsive Parenting Program on Maternal Perception of Child Temperament, Mother-Child Bonding, and Maternal Mood. Other Degree thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

Many Australian mothers attend Residential Early Parenting Programs to relieve distress and exhaustion due to child sleep and settling problems. This study extends current knowledge of programs by examining improvements in maternal and child outcomes one week after completing a three to four night Residential Responsive Parenting Program at Tweddle Child and Family Health Service; whether improvements were sustained at eight-week follow up; and whether improvements were independent of maternal mood changes. A prospective cohort study with a consecutive sample (N = 42) of predominately Australian born mothers (M = 32.6 years), with a child under 18 months (M = 9.6 months), were recruited at intake. Response rates were low (17.7%), with 29% retained at follow up. No attrition bias was detected. A RM-MANOVA (n = 12) demonstrated significant post-program improvements for maternal mood (p =.03), maternal perception of mother-child bonding (p =.03) and child temperament (p =.01), maternal sense of competence (p =.02), and maternal sleep quantity (p =.01). Child sleep quantity did not improve significantly. Improvements were sustained at follow up, additionally, maternal perception of mother-child bonding improved significantly (p =.04). Effect sizes were large (ηρ2 = .33-.53). A RM-MANCOVA (n = 24), with the covariate maternal mood difference, revealed no significant treatment effects. However, interaction effects were found with maternal perception of mother-child bonding (p =.001) and child temperament (p =.03), and maternal sense of competence (p =.04). Thus, while causation could not be attributed to the parenting program due to study design, improvements in maternal perception of mother-child bonding and child temperament, and maternal sense of competence interacted with a decrease in maternal depression symptoms. However, when maternal mood stabilized, additional improvements were perceived in mother-child bonding, suggesting that these variables are related, yet distinct concepts. Replication with a randomized, controlled study design is recommended.

Search Google Scholar

Repository staff login