Effects of a Home Visiting Program on Parenting: Mediating Role of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Young women aged 18 to 24 years are in the highest risk group for intimate partner violence (IPV), and adolescent mothers are at particularly high risk for IPV and for risky health behaviors. Exposure to IPV may contribute to parenting stress and risky behaviors, and may compromise parenting behavior and healthy child development. The present study examined whether program effects of a statewide home visiting program for adolescent parents on young mothers' parenting stress and risky behaviors measured 2 years post program enrollment were mediated by program effects on their exposure to IPV measured 1 year post enrollment. Using longitudinal data from a subsample of young mothers ( n = 448; 58% program, 42% control) who participated in a randomized controlled trial evaluation of a statewide home visiting program, Healthy Families Massachusetts (HFM), we estimated path analyses to examine whether home visiting program effects observed on IPV mediated home visiting program effects on subsequent assessments of parenting distress and mothers' risky behaviors. Findings indicated that IPV mediated associations between home visiting program effects on mothers' parenting distress and risky behavior. Although most newborn home visiting programs do not have an explicitly stated goal of reducing IPV, helping mothers and their partners to reduce violent behavior can have further-reaching impacts on other key goals of home visiting programs, such as parenting stress and risky behaviors.

Intergenerational Pathways Linking Mothers’ Adverse Childhood Experiences and Children’s Social-Emotional Problems

“…Home visiting is also looked to as a strategy to address postpartum mental health challenges, though impact studies have produced disappointing results overall (e.g., Ammerman et al, 2019; Leonard et al, 2020). In addition, despite routine screening for household risks such as intimate partner violence and substance use, evidence of home visiting impact on these outcomes is mixed (Duggan et al, 2004; Easterbrooks et al, 2021; Kitzman et al, 2019). Modifying the curricular focus of home visiting programs could increase their impact in these domains and, in turn, their effectiveness in promoting child development.…”

An Evidence-Based Glance at Domestic Violence Phenomenon in Early Marriages: A Narrative Review

“…Moreover, the prevalence of IPV is associated with an increase in depression in both genders, as well as the substance abuse, anti-social behaviors, and suicide in girls and the high levels of high-risk behaviors in both genders (72). IPV also causes high-risk behaviors in adolescent mothers (73). According to the study by Gage, 8% of 15-year-old versus 2.5% of 24-year-old married adolescents had suicide thoughts and attempts (74).…”

Intimate Partner Violence and Resilience: The Experience of Women in Mother-Child Assisted Living Centers

“…Other research has considered the effects of specific programs targeted at victims of IPV. Easterbrooks and colleagues [ 33 ] used longitudinal data from a sample of U.S. young mothers and demonstrated that the effects of a home visiting program on maternal well-being (both parenting stress and risky behaviors) two years after program enrollment were mediated by reductions in IPV one year earlier. Another study assessed the outcomes of the Nurse–Family Partnership program for pregnant women [ 34 ].…”