{Evaluation after three years of early intervention for parental support}

This article reports the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation of a newsletter for new parents which was adapted to the age of their children. Satisfaction with and the effectiveness of the intervention after three years of distribution were assessed. As in a previous evaluation undertaken after one year, the newsletter enjoyed widespread readership in the experimental families and among their friends and relatives. Compared to this previous evaluation, similar but stronger effects on aspects of the parental role were found, although these were confined to mothers. Mothers in the experimental group displayed greater knowledge of family support resources and had more favourable attitudes toward them than mothers in the comparison group. They also tended to display greater knowledge of child development. The discussion centres on the study's implications for research and the advisability of broadening this form of intervention.