Early coparenting programmes with parents of infants with a highly reactive temperament : a randomised study using ‘parents as partners’ (PasP)

Abstract

This randomised controlled trial presented a two-group design and sought to examine whether the ‘Parents As Partners’ (PasP) coparenting programme (Casey et al., 2017) delivered to parents who described their infants as having a highly reactive temperament, helped the parents strengthen their couple and coparenting relationships, and enabled them to use more effective parenting strategies which would in turn help to reduce the infants’ level of reactivity. Participating couples (n=52) were Maltese speaking parents who described their 8 to 12 month old infants as having a highly reactive temperament on the Infant Behaviour Questionniare Revised (IBQ-R) during a post-natal visit to a Well Baby Clinic in their local Health Centre. All the couples completed the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form (PSI-4-SF), and Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS) measures pre- and post-intervention. The age-appropriate Early Childhood Behaviour Questionnaire (ECBQ) was completed for both groups post-intervention. Couples randomized into the intervention group (n=30) were offered the PasP programme for 16 weeks, whereas the remaining couples (n=25) belonged to the control group, with both groups followed by a case manager. Significant results post-intervention showed that participating parents in the intervention group reported reduced conflict in the couple relationship occuring in front of their child, a reduced parent-child dysfunctional interaction as well as decreased negative reactivity in their child. Implications for supporting parents, involving fathers, and reduction of risks of future child behavioural difficulties and child maltreatment are pertinent to this study.