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Other home visiting programs for adolescent mothers

Public Health & Prevention: Home- or Family-based
  Literature review updated June 2018.
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This broad topic includes home visiting programs for young women under age 18 who have recently given birth. Depending on the program, the content of the home visits may include referrals for social services, education on infant health and development, social and emotional support, or education about family planning and goal setting. Home visitors were nurses or paraprofessionals. Participants in the included studies received home visiting services for 4 to 24 months, with an average of 17 total hours of home visiting over the course of the intervention.
 
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META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic in order to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the types of program impacts that were measured in the research literature (for example, crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information.

Adjusted effect sizes are used to calculate the benefits from our benefit cost model. WSIPP may adjust effect sizes based on methodological characteristics of the study. For example, we may adjust effect sizes when a study has a weak research design or when the program developer is involved in the research. The magnitude of these adjustments varies depending on the topic area.

WSIPP may also adjust the second ES measurement. Research shows the magnitude of some effect sizes decrease over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. We also report the unadjusted effect size to show the effect sizes before any adjustments have been made. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured Primary or secondary participant No. of effect sizes Treatment N Adjusted effect size(ES) and standard error(SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Repeat birth
A birth that occurs within two years of a prior birth for the same mother.  
 16 Primary 2 118 -0.127 0.175 17 -0.332 0.082
Repeat pregnancy
A pregnancy that occurs within two years of a prior birth for the same mother.
16 Primary 2 79 -0.073 0.198 17 -0.198 0.321
Preschool test scores
Measures of cognition in young children on standardized scales.
 1 Secondary 2 50 0.325 0.204 1 0.530 0.010
Out-of-home placement
The removal of a child from parental care, most often to foster care.
 1 Secondary 1 64 -0.381 0.232 1 -0.381 0.100

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Black, M.M., Bentley, M.E., Papas, M.A., Oberlander, S., Teti, L.O., McNary, S., . . . O'Connell, M. (2006). Delaying second births among adolescent mothers: A randomized, controlled trial of a home-based mentoring program. Pediatrics, 118(4), e1087-e1099.

Cappleman, M.W., Thompson, R.J., Jr., DeRemer-Sullivan, P.A., King, A.A., & Sturm, J.M. (1982). Effectiveness of a home based early intervention program with infants of adolescent mothers. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 13(1), 55-65.

Field, T., Widmayer, S., Greenberg, R., & Stoller, S. (1982). Effects of parent training on teenage mothers and their infants. Pediatrics, 69(6), 703-707.

Quinlivan, J.A., Box, H., & Evans, S.F. (2003). Postnatal home visits in teenage mothers: A randomised controlled trial. Lancet, 361(9361), 893-900.

Sims, K., & Luster, T. (2002). Factors related to early subsequent pregnancies and second births among adolescent mothers in a family support program. Journal of Family Issues, 23(8), 1006-1031.