Effectiveness of teaching an early parenting approach within a community-based support service for adolescent mothers.

A single blind, pre-test, post-test design was used to test the effectiveness of the Keys to Caregiving Program in enhancing adolescent mother-infant interactions. Participants were sequentially allocated to groups in order of referral. The outcome was the enhancement of maternal and infant behaviors that exhibited mutual responsiveness as measured by the Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale. Issues with recruitment and collaboration with the community agencies made achieving a desirable sample size difficult. Pre-tests and post-tests were completed for 13 participants. While the sample size was insufficient to confidently establish whether or not the Keys to Caregiving produced a between groups treatment effect, mothers within the treatment group evidenced significantly greater contingent responsiveness over time than those within the control group.