Do home-visit programs for mothers with infants reduce parenting stress and increase social capital in Japan?

BACKGROUND Distress during child rearing is known as a risk factor for child maltreatment. In addition, it is known that social capital can be a preventive factor for child maltreatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the home-visit program reduces parenting stress and increases the social capital in the community. METHODS The home-visit program was implemented when the infants were 1-2 month of age (by public health nurses or midwives) and/or 4 months of age for those mothers who agreed to a home visit by trained community staff. Self-administered questionnaires on parenting stress scale and social capital were sent to all mothers who delivered a baby between August and November 2009 in two cities in the Aichi prefecture, Japan. RESULTS Among 936 mothers, 347 mothers (follow-up rate: 37%) completed both questionnaires. Scores on parenting stress scale scores at 4 months were lower than those at 1-2 months among the four groups (no home visit, home visit at 1-2 months, home visit at 4 months and both). The social trust scores at 4 months were higher than those at 1-2 months in every group; however, multivariate regression analysis showed that there were no differences in the reduction of the parenting stress scale scores and increase in social trust between the four groups. CONCLUSION The home-visit program conducted once or twice by public health nurses or trained community staff for mothers with infants showed no substantial reduction in maternal stress and no increase in social trust.