Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2020
Effectiveness of a psycho-educational intervention for expecting parents to prevent postpartum parenting stress, depression and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community-based interventions to promote paternal mental wellbeing and prevent poor mental health during the perinatal period: a mixed methods systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The efficacy of collaborative psychological interventions in reducing anxiety levels in pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Digital Parenting Interventions for Fathers of Infants From Conception to the Age of 12 Months: Systematic Review of Mixed Methods Studies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions from pregnancy to two years after birth for parents experiencing complex post-traumatic stress disorder and/or with childhood experience of maltreatment.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of interventions to prevent perinatal depression: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analysis.General hospital psychiatryPooled it
- Evaluating a family-centered care intervention for reducing post-traumatic stress and aggression among parents of infants with congenital anomalies: a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Assessment of self-management empowerment program on sense of coherence, self-efficacy and postpartum anxiety in cesarean mothers randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Effects of Digital Mindfulness Training for Couples on Psychological Distress and Infant Neuropsychological Development: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Effects of a Mobile-Based Intervention for Parents of Children With Crying, Sleeping, and Feeding Problems: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- HAPPY MAMA Project (Part 2)-Maternal Distress and Self-Efficacy: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Field Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- The Baby Steps Web Program for the Well-Being of New Parents: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Effects of a Prenatal Anxiety Randomized Controlled Trial Intervention on Infant Development in Pakistan.Academic pediatricsTrial
- Health Information Technologies in the Support System of New Fathers' Postnatal Depression: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Review
- Mapping What Works to Strengthen the Relational Ecology of Early Child Development: A Systematic Scoping Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Article
- Do psychological flexibility and interparental mutually responsive orientation reduce postpartum parenting stress and coparenting difficulties?Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review of Prevention Classification in Mental Health: Examining the Application of Caplan's and Gordon's Prevention Frameworks (2018-2024).Journal of prevention (2022) · 2025Article
- A Mobile App-Based Intervention (Parentbot-a Digital Healthcare Assistant) for Parents: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Informatics Interventions for Maternal Morbidity: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2025Review
- Effectiveness of online psychological interventions to prevent perinatal depression in fathers and non-birthing partners: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Internet interventions · 2024Review
- Postpartum Maternal Anxiety Affects the Development of Food Allergy Through Dietary and Gut Microbial Diversity During Early Infancy.Allergy, asthma & immunology research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe first months postpartum can be challenging for parents, leading to elevated symptoms of parenting stress, depression and anxiety. In turn, distressed parents are at higher risk for providing suboptimal quality of caregiving. As psychoeducational interventions can be effective in reducing psychological distress, the goal of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the effectiveness of low-intensity universal psychoeducational program to prevent postpartum parenting stress, and to enhance parental well-being and caregiving quality.
methodBetween 26 and 34 weeks of pregnancy, 138 pregnant women and 96 partners were randomized to the intervention or a waitlist control group. The intervention consisted of a booklet, a video, a home visit, and a telephone call. Information was provided on (1) sensitive responsiveness, adapting to the parental role, and attending to own needs; (2) crying patterns; (3) feeding (arrangements); and (4) sleeping (arrangements). The primary outcome was parenting stress postpartum. Secondary outcomes were additional measures of distress (depression and anxiety), parental well-being, and caregiving quality.
resultsBoth groups showed a rise in distress after birth. No between-group differences were observed on parenting stress, nor on the secondary outcomes. The intervention was rated as useful and of added value by the parents.
conclusionThis study offered no evidence that our universal prevention program was effective in decreasing parental distress or in increasing caregiving quality. However, parents found aspects of the intervention useful. More research is needed, including a longer period of follow-up as well as observational measures of parents' responsiveness.
trial registrationThis trial has been registered on 15 September 2016 in the Netherlands National Trial Register, ID: NTR6065, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/5782 .
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.