Improving adolescent parent-infant interactions: a pilot study. Using videotape instruction and feedback to improve adolescents' mothering behaviors. Promoting mealtime communication between adolescent mothers and their infants through videotape.
The study objective was to pilot test Keys to Caregiving, a program designed to improve interactions and contingent responsiveness between adolescent mothers and their infants. First-time adolescent parents, aged 15 to 19 years, received either the Keys to Caregiving program delivered by 6-weekly visits or a control program consisting of 6-weekly neutral visits. Parent-infant interactions and contingent responsiveness during teaching and feeding, and infant cognitive development were assessed when infants completed the program. The results suggest that the Keys to Caregiving program shows promise as a method of improving adolescent mothers' interactions with their infants. The effects of videotape instruction and feedback (videotherapy) on mothering behaviors were evaluated in this longitudinal study. In this study, 31 adolescents and their healthy infants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. All subjects were videotaped during structured mother-infant teaching episodes in their homes at 1 and 2 months postpartum. Experimental group subjects reviewed the videotaped 1-month teaching episode and received feedback from a specially trained professional nurse who emphasized positive aspects of maternal behavior. Instruction was individualized according to the mother's needs. Results of a repeated measures MONOVA revealed significant differences in the pattern of change over time between subjects in the experimental and control groups on a measure of actual maternal behaviors. Adolescents receiving videotape instruction and feedback obtained significantly higher maternal behavior scores at 1 and 2 months postpartum. To use social learning theory to develop and examine the effectiveness of a 15-minute, culturally sensitive videotape in altering mealtime communication and attitudes among African-American adolescent mothers.
                Randomized clinical trial with baseline and follow-up evaluations.
                High schools, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Clinics, and Family Support Centers serving low-income families.
                Fifty-nine first-time, African-American adolescent mothers of infants.
                Intervention group viewed and received a copy of a videotape titled "Feeding Your Baby With Love." The messages, title, music, and setting were designed by an advisory group of six African-American adolescent mothers who were filmed feeding their infants in their homes.
                During baseline and follow-up evaluations, mothers were videotaped feeding their baby and completed a questionnaire on attitudes toward mealtime behavior. Analysis of covariance with repeated measures indicated changes in both behavior and attitudes. At follow-up, intervention mothers were more involved with their infant and reported more favorable attitudes toward feeding and communication than control mothers.
                Brief culturally sensitive videotapes may be effective strategies to promote parenting skills and to prevent social and health problems among adolescents.