Evaluation of a short-term intervention program for psychosocial-risk mothers and their infants

A 6-week intensive intervention program for psychosocial-risk mothers and t heir babies younger than 6 months of age was evaluated on the basis of 57 p articipants. Assessments of 10 aspects of mother-child interaction variable s were made by the staff in the beginning and at the end of the treatment p eriod, using visual analogue scales. The same assessments were made by two external child psychologists on the basis of video recordings. A reference group from a previous study comprising 47 identified psychosocial-risk moth ers and 57 non-risk mothers was used. The mothers were interviewed about th eir opinion about the treatment. The outcome of the assessments indicated a positive development in more than half of the variables according to both the staff and the external psychologists. The assessments of the risk mothe rs were similar to those of the mothers in the reference group of identifie d psychosocial-risk mothers from the previous study in the beginning of the treatment period, but differed in a positive direction compared with the a ssessments made at the end of the treatment. The non-risk mothers from the previous study scored significantly better than the risk mothers in both as sessments. An improvement was noted by the staff members in the subgroup "p sychiatric problems" but not in the subgroup "social problems". There were no pronounced improvements in either of the subgroups according to the exte rnal psychologists' assessments. Most of the mothers, 73%, experienced the treatment as positive, and most mothers, 90%, would recommend the treatment to other parents with similar problems. In conclusion, the evaluation of t he treatment program according to both staff and mothers treated suggested a positive outcome.