Question

Ordway et al. (2014) conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the effects of the Minding the Baby (MTB) home visiting program on parental reflective functioning (RF) and on child behavior. The study included intervention and control groups, and the women who participated in the MTB intervention described their children as having significantly fewer externalizing child behaviors post intervention. However, there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups for parental RF. This study is clinically important because it adds support to the use of preventative home visitation programs, such as MTB, to reduce externalizing behavior problems in children. “The prevention of children's externalizing behaviors in the preschool years may help to reduce further effects later in their lives” (Ordway et al., 2014, p. 11). The sample section is presented as an example for this exercise. Data analyses were conducted with 24 mother–child dyads in the intervention group and 26 mother–child dyads in the control group. Relevant Study Results Ordway and colleagues (2014, p. 5) noted, “At the start of this follow-up study, there were 132 mother–child dyads that previously participated or were presently participating with the MTB program. Mother–child dyads were eligible for this study if they met the following criteria: (a) the targeted child was between the ages of 3 to 5 years at the time of data collection between March 2010 and March 2011, (b) the mother had primary custody or regular visitation with the child, (c) the dyad lived in state and/or was able to meet in state for the data collection, and (d) the mother participated in the MTB program or the control condition beyond the initial consent period. Among the 71 mother–child dyads with children 3–5 years old during the 1-year data collection period, 62 met all of the eligibility criteria. Fifty dyads (80.6%) were available for contact, and 12 dyads were unreachable. None of the mothers who were contacted refused to participate in the follow-up study (Figure 1). Upon IRB approval from the university and local community health center where the women were originally recruited, subjects were consented and data were collected during two data collection visits with the mother–child dyads. The sample size was calculated using . . . significance level . . . α = 0.05 and 80% power was selected for analyses of two outcomes, parental RF and child behavior. Accordingly, the required size for each group was determined to be 17 dyads. All of the eligible subjects were recruited thereby resulting in the enrollment of 29% more subjects from each group allowing for study attrition” (Ordway et al., 2014, p. 5). Study Questions 1. What type of study was conducted? 2. What population was studied? Who were the study participants? 3. Did the study report sampling exclusion criteria? If so, what were these criteria? 4. How many mother–child dyads were included in the primary study? How many mother–child dyads met the child-age eligibility criteria of 3–5 years for the follow-up study? 5. Of the 35 mother–child dyads in the control group of the primary study, how many were included in the follow-up study reported in this article? How many mother–child dyads were lost from the primary study control group?

Answer 1

1). This study is a randomized control trail with longitudinal follow-up. The Study is aimed at determining the effect of MTB home visiting program on the child behaviour and parental reflective functioning (RF)

2). The study population were mother-child dyads, which previously participated in the MTB program or presently participating in the MTB program. Total 132 members (mother-child dyad) were participated initially, and 62 mother-child dyads met the eligible criteria.