Description:
The present study was designed to test the implementation and related outcomes of a new, evidence-based intervention, called the Mommy and Me Play Program (MMPP), developed in partnership with two Head Start programs in an urban, northeastern community. The latest Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health (2001) asserts that interventions designed to enhance skill development for young children are effective when they include training for parents in their program design. Further, effective interventions must take into account the familial, social, and cultural demands of the child's environment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). The MMPP employed several key features from other successful intervention programs with low-income, minority families of preschool-age children (e.g., staff facilitation, non-hierarchical group discussion, and peer modeling), while employing an innovative intervention technique, termed live-action modeling. Although findings from the MMPP intervention outcomes were largely not statistically significant, the trends identified in results supported initial hypotheses about the outcomes for mother and child participants. Overall, trends in the data indicated that participation in the MMPP did have a positive impact on some participants' parent-child interactions, knowledge, and children's externalizing behaviors. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States