Changing Parents' Behaviour Using a Psycho‐Educational Film as a Preventative Measure to Reduce the Risk of Non‐accidental Head Injury

Abstract

In 2012, the NSPCC began piloting a psycho‐educational film that was designed to help all expectant and new parents cope with their babies' crying and reduce the incidence of non‐accidental head injuries in infants in the UK. It was hypothesised that having strategies to use when they were struggling with their babies' crying would be one of the key factors in helping parents cope and the film provides parents with examples of coping strategies. A quasi‐experimental evaluation design, namely, comparative surveys followed by propensity score matching, was used to assess if parents who had watched the film had utilised these strategies more than a comparison group of parents who had not. Parents also participated in focus groups to explore their experience of watching the film. The study found that parents who had watched the film in the antenatal period or postnatally after discharge from hospital were significantly more likely to report using a range coping strategies in response to their babies' crying, compared with parents who had not watched the film. Parents who had watched the film in the immediate postnatal period in the first few days after birth, before discharge from hospital, were less likely to use these strategies. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages The psycho‐educational film Coping with Crying is an effective way to give parents strategies to cope when faced with their babies' crying. The film should be shown in the antenatal or postnatal period, after parents have left hospital but before the baby is six weeks old, to have the greatest impact.

A Structured Review of the Literature on Abusive Head Trauma Prevention

“…While studies of programmes in this category made up the majority of the articles included in this review, it appears that parent education programmes show mixed promise in their effectiveness for reducing the incidence of AHT at this time; albeit some of these programmes did change parent behaviour related to the infant's crying. The studies included in this review that fall under this category can be easily subdivided again into three groups: (i) studies referring to various aspects of a programme called Period of PURPLE Crying® (PPC) (Barr et al ., 2009a, 2009b, 2015, 2018; Fujiwara et al ., 2012; Fujiwara, 2015; Mirabal Rodríguez et al ., 2011; Ornstein et al ., 2016; Stolz et al ., 2017; Zolotor et al ., 2015); (ii) studies referring to programmes of parent newborn education in hospitals after the birth of a child, exemplified by Dias (Altman et al ., 2011; Bravo, 2014; Dias et al ., 2005, 2017; Duzinski et al ., 2018; Keenan & Leventhal, 2010; Kelly et al ., 2016; Palusci et al ., 2006; Trossman, 2016); and (iii) studies about other parent education programmes as a method to prevent AHT (Bechtel et al ., 2011; Coster, 2017; Deyo et al ., 2008; Eismann et al ., 2019; Lopes et al ., 2018; Morrill et al ., 2015; Rabbitt et al ., 2018; Russell et al ., 2008; Russell, 2010; Simonnet et al ., 2014; Taşar et al ., 2015).…”

The Effectiveness of Parenting Programs in Preventing Abusive Head Trauma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The majority of the included studies involved a two-arm trial. Only one study used a four-arm design with three intervention groups and one matched comparison group (Coster, 2017).…”

Physical Abuse of Children

“…In our final paper of this issue, Denise Coster () reports on a study evaluating an NSPCC‐funded preventative measure to help new parents in the UK cope with their babies' crying and to help reduce the incidence of non‐accidental head injuries. The intervention is a psycho‐educational film, called Coping with Crying , which offers parents and caregivers a number of sensible strategies to employ to help them cope when their baby is crying, including: taking a break/getting space, the use of soothing strategies and seeking help.…”

“…In contrast, those parents who had watched the film in the immediate postnatal period before being discharged from hospital were less likely to use the coping strategies. As Coster (, p. 472) notes:…”

“…Coster () recommends that to have the greatest impact the film is shown to parents in the antenatal period or after parents have left hospital but before a baby is six weeks old. This could be an important preventative measure, if it is rolled out as a universal intervention, for helping parents to manage their babies' crying and respond appropriately, thus reducing the potential for non‐accidental head injury in infants.…”