Effects of an internet intervention on mothers' psychological, parenting, and health care utilization outcomes

The purpose of this pilot study was to test the effects of an Internet-based intervention, the New Mothers Network, on single, low-income, adolescent, African American mothers' psychological, parenting, and health care utilization outcomes.

The study was based on social support theory.

For mothers in the Intervention Group, MSNTV™ was installed in subjects' homes and connected to the Internet. Data were collected at 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months following the infant's birth.

For infant health services utilization, 70.6% of those in the Control Group took their infant to the emergency room at least once during the study compared to 35.7% of mothers in the Intervention Group. The New Mothers Network allowed mothers to share their experiences and acquire information from nurses about caring for themselves and their infants.

The New Mothers Network Web site is well poised for nursing driven social support intervention via the Internet, even though access devices are evolving over time.