Parental support: effects of a mass-media intervention

Although face-to-face parental support programs have been shown to improve parents' knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, such interventions are relatively costly to administer. This article reports the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation of a relatively less costly, mass-media intervention: an age-paced newsletter for new parents. Readership and effectiveness of the newsletter were assessed after three years of distribution. Evaluation participants were 453 randomly selected fathers and mothers of three-year-olds, of which 193 were newsletter recipients and 260 were nonrecipients. Results showed that readership and satisfaction were high. Modest effects were found among mothers in the experimental group on knowledge and perception of existing community resources. Experimental mothers also tended to display greater knowledge of child development. No significant effects of the newsletter were found for fathers. The discussion centres on the potential for this type of intervention strategy to optimize existing investment in public family support programs.