A randomised control trial (RCT) of enhanced parenting to improve developmental outcomes in preterm infants.

Four modules will be delivered as 2 hour group sessions, one a week over four weeks, in the NICU by psychology graduates that have completed Triple P facilitator training. Session 1 includes explaining positive parenting, understanding a baby's behaviour and development, goal setting, and developing a positive relationship with your baby. Session 2 includes strategies for teaching new skills and behaviour, responding to your baby and managing crying and sleeping. Session 3 includes parenting traps, unpleasant emotions and how these affect parenting, coping strategies, and changes a baby brings to your life. Session 4 discusses partner support, including partner traps, communication, changes to your relationship, planning partner activities and dividing chores. A parent workbook accompanies the program and is given to parents for use with exercises and as a reference. Between sessions, parents complete homework tasks to consolidate learning. After hospital discharge, 4x30-min telephone consultations are conducted at 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks corrected age (ca) with the family in their community by the trained Triple P facilitator who conducted the initial NICU-based sessions. The telephone sessions provide additional support to parents as they put into practice what has been learnt and the facilitator will assist parents in setting and reviewing parenting goals. This is followed by a facilitated transition to community based Triple P services with interventions continuing until the infants are 2 years of age using the established Triple P providers and with parents able to access all Triple P services available in their community including seminars, groups and enhanced individual support if required. Triple P has a range of community programs which include tailored variants and flexible delivery modes, to target different groups of high risk or vulnerable parents. The programs have a variety of outcomes including improved parent-child relationships, reduced child behaviour problems, reduced depression, stress and anxiety, decreased dysfunctional parenting and personal distress, and increased levels of self-efficacy, work commitment and work satisfaction. Prem Baby Triple P features different content to the community Triple P as it focuses on babies, particularly those born premature. The community component will be linked seamlessly to the neonatal component. Families transferred early to regional hospitals will be able to complete all modules of the neonatal aspect of the program through watching a DVD at home with follow-up telephone consultations with providers at Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital and Mater Mothers' Hospital. Intervention group participants will also receive Triple P tip-sheets every 3 months up until 24 months corrected age and fortnightly text messages reiterating program content.