Trial reportCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2005
Social support and education groups for single mothers: a randomized controlled trial of a community-based program.
Trial report in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Group-based parent training programmes for improving parental psychosocial health.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Understanding how education/support groups help lone mothers.BMC public health · 2010Trial
- Family Structure, Dwelling and Household Factors, and the Mental Health of Immigrant and Canadian-Born Mothers.Journal of community psychology · 2026Article
- Understanding Parenting and Pregnant Women's Perceptions of Accessing, Utilizing, and Barriers to Seeking Social Support for Mental Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The effectiveness of community friendship groups on participant social and mental health: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Examining family processes linked to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families: The moderating role of school connectedness.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Making friends at antenatal classes: a qualitative exploration of friendship across the transition to motherhood.The Journal of perinatal education · 2012Article
- Providing web-based mental health services to at-risk women.BMC women's health · 2011Article
- Remission of maternal depression and child symptoms among single mothers: a STAR*D-Child report.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2007Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMembers of families headed by single mothers are at increased risk of psychosocial disadvantage and mental health problems. We assessed the effect of a community-based program of social support and education groups for single mothers of young children on maternal well-being and parenting.
methodsWe recruited 116 single mothers of children 3 to 9 years old through community advertisements. Eligible mothers were randomly assigned either to participate in a 10-week program of group sessions (1.5 hours per week) offering social support and education, with a parallel children's activity group, or to receive a standard list of community resources and the option to participate in group sessions at the end of the follow-up period. Interviewers blinded to the randomization collected assessment data from all mothers at baseline and at 3 follow-up visits (immediately after the intervention and at 3 and 6 months after the intervention). Outcome measures were self-reported mood, self-esteem, social support and parenting.
resultsBetween February 2000 and April 2003, the program was offered to 9 groups of single mothers. Most of the mothers in the trial reported high levels of financial and mental health problems. In the short term (after the intervention), mothers in the intervention group had improved scores for mood (p < 0.01, standardized effect = 0.55) and self-esteem (p < 0.05, standardized effect = 0.29) compared with mothers in the control group; scores for the other 2 measures did not differ between the groups. Growth curve analysis of program effects over the follow-up period showed improvement in all 4 outcomes, with no significant difference between the intervention and control groups.
interpretationThis community-based program of group sessions offering social support and education to low-income single mothers had positive short-term effects on mood and self-esteem but not on social support and parenting. Longer follow-up showed attenuation of these effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.