Trial of Transition to Parenthood Program for Couples
FF2
1 other identifier
interventional
1,200
1 country
1
Brief Summary
This is a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Family Foundations program and to better understand how families cope with having a new baby. The research questions include: What is the effectiveness of the Family Foundations program? How do families cope with having a new baby?
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable
Started Jun 2008
Longer than P75 for not_applicable
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
June 1, 2008
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
July 22, 2013
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
July 25, 2013
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 1, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
December 1, 2026
June 18, 2024
June 1, 2024
18.5 years
July 22, 2013
June 17, 2024
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Coparenting Quality
We assessed coparenting relationship quality with the 31-item Coparenting Scale, which was created based on prior work (e.g., Abidin \& Brunner, 1995; Cordova, 2001; Frank, Olmstead, Wagner,\& Laub, 1991; Margolin et al., 2001; McHale, 1997). The overall score represents an average of items covering theoretically important domains: coparental agreement, support,undermining, and exposure of the child to conflict.
Up to 2.5 years from baseline
Secondary Outcomes (1)
Aggressive Parenting
Up to 2.5 years after baseline
Other Outcomes (1)
Cardiovascular disease risk
8 years from baseline
Study Arms (2)
Control Group
NO INTERVENTIONCouples in the Control group did not receive the Family Foundations Coparenting Program.
Intervention Group
EXPERIMENTALCouples randomly assigned to the Intervention Group received the Family Foundations Coparenting Program.
Interventions
Family Foundations, a program for adult couples expecting their first child, is designed to help them establish positive parenting skills and adjust to the physical, social, and emotional challenges of parenthood. Program topics include coping with postpartum depression and stress, creating a caring environment, and developing the child's social and emotional competence. Family Foundations is delivered to groups of couples through four prenatal and four postnatal classes of 2 hours each. Prenatal classes are started during the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy, and the postnatal classes end when the children are 6 months old. Family Foundations is delivered in a community setting by childbirth educators who have received 3 days of training from Family Foundations staff.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Expecting first child
- Couple living together and planning to raise child together
- years or older
You may not qualify if:
- not first child
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
Penn State University, Prevention Research Center
University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, United States
Related Publications (5)
Aytuglu A, Graham-Engeland JE, Feinberg ME, Murray-Perdue SA, Conway CA, Schreier HMC. Longitudinal associations between father- and mother-child interactions, coparenting, and child cardiometabolic health. Health Psychol. 2025 Dec 1:10.1037/hea0001567. doi: 10.1037/hea0001567. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 41325157DERIVEDAytuglu A, Graham-Engeland JE, Feinberg ME, Jones DE, Schreier HMC. Child sleep problems mediate prospective associations between fathers' parenting stress and child blood glucose levels. J Fam Psychol. 2025 Mar;39(2):277-283. doi: 10.1037/fam0001306. Epub 2025 Jan 16.
PMID: 39818869DERIVEDSchreier HMC, Feinberg ME, Jones DE, Ganguli A, Givens C, Graham-Engeland J. Children's empathy moderates the association between perceived interparental conflict and child health. Brain Behav Immun. 2024 May;118:128-135. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.022. Epub 2024 Feb 24.
PMID: 38408496DERIVEDJones EJ, Feinberg ME, Graham-Engeland JE, Jones DE, Schreier HMC. A perinatal coparenting intervention: Effects of a randomized trial on parent cardiometabolic risk and self-reported health. Biol Psychol. 2023 Oct;183:108664. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108664. Epub 2023 Aug 23.
PMID: 37625684DERIVEDFeinberg ME, Jones DE, Roettger ME, Hostetler ML, Sakuma KL, Paul IM, Ehrenthal DB. Preventive Effects on Birth Outcomes: Buffering Impact of Maternal Stress, Depression, and Anxiety. Matern Child Health J. 2016 Jan;20(1):56-65. doi: 10.1007/s10995-015-1801-3.
PMID: 26194453DERIVED
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- SINGLE
- Who Masked
- OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
- Purpose
- PREVENTION
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Research professor
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
July 22, 2013
First Posted
July 25, 2013
Study Start
June 1, 2008
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2026
Last Updated
June 18, 2024
Record last verified: 2024-06