Child Health Intervention

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Child Health Intervention Longitudinal
Development Studies Program Trina Cluney, BN
Student Linda Duffett-Leger, RN, MN, PhD
Student Nicole Letourneau PhD, RN, CRC
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• The overarching goal of the CHILD Studies Program
  is to examine the various ways that childrens
  caregiving environments impact their health.

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Community-Based Research

• The research studies developed by the CHILD
  Studies Program are community-based, with the
  active involvement of partners from multiple
  stakeholder groups, community agencies,
  university sites, faculties and disciplines.

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Determinants of Health

• Healthy Child Development
• Social Support

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Parent-Child Interaction

• Quality parent-child interactions buffer the
  impact of various factors that place children at
  risk for less than optimal development.
• Positive parent-child
• interactions are
• linked to improved
• child developmental
• outcomes.

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Social Support

• Advice, guidance
• Youre worth it!
• I understand
• Help with household, child care

Social Support interactions with family members,
friends, health professionals that communicate
information, esteem, aid and understanding
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Social Support and Parenting
Healthy child development
Parenting
Social support
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Stress and Child Development

• High stress triggers high stress hormone levels
  (cortisol),
• Adaptive enable child to cope with stressors

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Stress Child Development

• High cortisol predicts reduced cognition, memory
  attention, self-control, behavioral problems in
  children.
• Poor parenting can be a source of stress.
• Social support may promote optimal parenting,
  reducing infant stress and maximizing childrens
  developmental potentials.

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Postpartum Depression
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Postpartum Depression

• Signs and Symptoms of PPD
• When does it Occur?
• Duration of PPD symptoms

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Who is affected by PPD?

• Depression following childbirth affects up to 15
  of new mothers.
• PPD has serious implications for
• womens health
• family functioning
• childrens health
• development

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Effects on Children

• Boys of depressed mothers tend to display more
  externalizing behaviors.
• Girls of depressed mothers tend to display more
  internalizing behaviors.

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Support for Women Who Experienced Symptoms of
Postpartum Depression
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PPD Study

• A new mom coming to help me, to show me how easy
  it is to take a baby out to go out with the car
  seat, to show me how to breastfeed in a mall, or
  just to be more mobile.

• You know deep down inside that you really do
  need this, and you really do want it, but what
  comes out of your mouth is, No, I dont need any
  help even though inside, youre screaming, and
  saying, Yes, for Gods sake, help me.

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Mothers Offering Mentorship and Support(MOMS)
Study

• A RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer
  support intervention

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MOMS Study

• One-on-one support for mothers with PPD provided
  by mothers who have recovered from PPD
• 2 to 12 weeks of home visits.
• Assess impact on maternal-child relationships,
  PPD, child development, maternal infant cortisol

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Support Needs of Partners of Mothers with
Postpartum Depression
DADS Study
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DADS Study

• Qualitative design
• One-on-one interviews conducted with male
  partners of women who have experienced PPD.

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Intimate Partner Violence
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Intimate Partner Violence

• Occurrence
• Violence and Child Health
• Psychological and Behavioural Effects
• Duration and Onset

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Social Support and Abuse

• Long term implications of a violent relationship
• Mothers support needs

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The Mothering Study

• Supporting Mother-Infant Relationships Affected
  by Intimate Partner Violence

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Mothering Study

• Mothers and service providers interviewed about
  social support needs to promote optimal
  mother-infant relationships in families affected
  by Intimate Partner Violence.
• Mothers complete a number of assessments
  regarding
• Child development
• Parent child relationship quality
• The family environment
• Other known parenting/life stressors

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Thank You Any Questions?