Effect of a paraprofessional home-visiting intervention on American Indian teen mothers’ and infants’ behavioral risks: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The authors sought to examine the effectiveness of Family Spirit, a paraprofessional-delivered, home-visiting pregnancy and early childhood intervention,in improving American Indian teen mothers’ parenting outcomes and mothers’and children’s emotional and behavioral functioning 12 months postpartum.

Method: Pregnant American Indian teens(N=322) from four southwestern tribal reservation communities were randomlyassigned in equal numbers to the Family Spirit intervention plus optimized standard care or to optimized standard care alone. Parent and child emotional and behavioral outcome data were collected at baseline and at 2, 6, and 12 months postpartum using self-reports, interviews,and observational measures.