Promoting Sensitive Parenting in 'at-risk' Mothers and Fathers: A UK Outcome Study of Mellow Babies, a Group-based Early Intervention Program for Parents and Their Babies

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Mellow Babies (MB) in the UK. MB is a 14-week early parenting intervention program that is delivered in groups and is targeted at 'at-risk' parents (both mothers and fathers) and their babies up to 18 months old.

Method: The study used a pragmatic pre-post intervention design. Outcomes were parental mental health, parenting confidence, quality of life, socio-emotional development of children, and perceived parent-child relationship. Fifteen groups representing n = 91 parent-baby dyads were recruited across the UK between 2017-2018. The sample consisted of 10 Mellow Mums groups (70 mother-baby dyads) and 5 Mellow Dads groups (21 father-baby dyads). Intention-to-treat and 'completer' analyses were performed.

Results: Findings suggest short-term positive outcomes for parents attending MB. Completion of the program was associated with significant improvements in anxiety and overall wellbeing, parenting confidence, and perceived closeness of the parent-child relationship. The significance of these improvements, except for parenting confidence, was maintained in the intention-to-treat analysis. MB engaged and retained a high proportion of parents who could be considered 'at-risk' and benefitted fathers and mothers attending the intervention equally.

Conclusions: This is the first prospective study to explore MB participation for both mothers and fathers and to indicate engagement and potential benefits specifically for 'at-risk' parents. Findings further demonstrate the effectiveness of MB as an early intervention program for parents experiencing psychosocial difficulties. Replication by studies using a contrast or control group also incorporating follow-up data would further improve the evidence base for MB.