Supporting Parents: Can Intervention Improve Parent-Child Relationships?

Abstract

Healthy child development has been identified as one of the key determinants of health and resiliency in adulthood. This article reports on the results of two pilot studies of randomized controlled trials of parent support interventions aimed at improving the parent-child relationship and indirectly enhancing the resilience capacity among at-risk children. Participating children were at risk for mental health problems due to poverty and/or their parents’ lack of educational attainment, inexperience, and young age. The interventions were composed of parenting skills training and social support. Eighteen families participated in Supportive Intervention I, and 34 families participated in Supportive Intervention II. Results suggested that parent-child relationships were enhanced in both pilot studies. These promising findings offer direction for future research and for nurses and other interventionists providing support to young at-risk families.