Abstract
An independent, randomized controlled trial of the community-developed, multiple-component Relief Nursery prevention program was conducted with families with young children considered “at risk” for child abuse and neglect. This established program, currently operating at multiple sites in the state of Oregon, comprises an integrated package of prevention services to children and families, including early childhood education, home visiting, and parent education and support, as well as other interventions tailored to the needs of each particular family. Families who contacted the Relief Nursery for the first time were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, the Full Program condition, whose members had access to all services available from the Relief Nursery, or the Respite Care condition, whose members had access only to respite care and referrals to services provided by other community agencies. A primary caregiver in each family was interviewed prior to intervention and then every 6 months across a period of 2 years. Standardized measures were collected on a variety of risk and protective factors related to child abuse and neglect. Analyses were conducted at the end of the study period. Differences were found between the conditions in terms of perceived helpfulness and satisfaction with services and in terms of social support, in each case favoring the Full Program condition. Implications of the findings for future studies of multicomponent child abuse prevention programs with similar characteristics to the Relief Nursery are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to each of the families who participated in this study, to the staff members of the Relief Nursery of Eugene–Springfield who delivered services to study families and children, and to each of the organizational members of the Oregon Association of Relief Nurseries, whose staff members provided extensive input into the design of the study. Special thanks to Kelly Sutherland, Lory Britain, Irene Alltucker, Sharri da Silva, Jean Phelps, Amy Ripley, Becky Lamoureux, Walt Letkiewicz, Kevin Alltucker, Leslie Finlay, Julia Richards, Diana Strand, Sally Schwader, Melanie Hyers, Julie Stubbs, Beth Green, and Ben de Haan for their contributions to this work.
Funding
This study was funded by the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, Grant No. 90CA1781. The services to families were funded through a variety of public and private sources, including the state of Oregon and the Meyer Memorial Trust.
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This research was conducted with the approval of the Oregon Social Learning Center Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed in studies involving human subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Eddy, J.M., Shortt, J.W., Martinez, C.R. et al. Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Relief Nursery Program. Prev Sci 21, 36–46 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-00992-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-019-00992-9