Increasing parental competency by demonstration of newborn behavioral characteristics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the question: Does an explanation, demonstration, and return demonstration of the Infant Behavioral Assessment Record by a nurse and new parents increase maternal and paternal observed and perceived parental competence? The investigator recruited 49 expectant parents from parent education groups and assigned each couple to an experimental or control group. During a one week postpartum home visit, the parents completed a Parental Knowledge Questionnaire (PKQ) and were observed during a feeding using the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NCAF). The experimental group was given an explanation, demonstration, and they returned the demonstration of the Infant Behavioral Assessment Record (IBAR) while the control group received no explanation and demonstration. At six weeks postpartum during a home visit, completed posttest measures of parental knowledge (PKQ), observed parental competence (NCAF), and perceived parental competence as measured by the Parenting Sense of Competency (PSOC) were taken.