DadSpace: Increasing Community Support Resources for Perinatal Fathers

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
The project is aimed at meeting the support needs of community fathers who are expecting a baby or who have recently had a baby. This work is being conducted in conjunction with community partners through The Women's Clinic of Northern Colorado (WCNC). Researchers and WCNC staff will work together to develop and implement programs for prenatal and postpartum fathers. Participants will be invited to a group mentoring program and also will be provided access to supplementary educational podcasts focused on topics relevant to prenatal and postpartum fathers. The investigators are seeking to understand what participants like and don't like about the program and how participation in the program affects participants' stress, well-being, and parenting.

Detailed Description
-----------------
The investigators are building on previous work to identify opportunities to meet the needs of perinatal fathers. The term perinatal encompasses the time leading up to and immediately following the birth of a child. Father involvement in child rearing is beneficial to mothers and children, but fathers are routinely overlooked by available support opportunities at the transition to parenthood. This pilot project seeks to apply research evidence and best practices to address the disparity in socioemotional community support and education programs serving perinatal fathers. In a previous pilot study, the investigators learned from fathers participating in focus groups that participants were interested in opportunities to connect with other fathers in the same life stage to talk about personal experiences and learn from each other. The investigators also learned that fathers worry about meeting varied role expectations, that available resources tend to overlook the unique experiences of fathers, and that it can be challenging to find quality information in a digital world saturated with conflicting information about parenting. This project seeks to address these primary issues through community-based, father-centric support and educational programs. WCNC education staff will facilitate a discussion-based group mentoring program for fathers who are expecting or recently had a baby. This program seeks to increase connection with other fathers, reduce stress related to parenting a baby, and increase parenting confidence. The investigators plan to evaluate the feasibility of the program through satisfaction surveys and other measures of the program's implementation. The investigators also plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the program by providing participants with surveys asking about their well-being, knowledge, confidence in parenting, and their satisfaction with their social networks. The investigators are additionally developing educational podcasts focused on topics relevant to prenatal and postpartum fathers, which will be evaluated as a supplementary component to the mentoring program. Research objectives are the following: Study 1, Objective 1 (Primary): The investigators seek to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a program targeting perinatal fathers offered in a community clinic setting. Study 1, Objective 2 (Primary): Examine whether participating in a discussion-based group mentoring program increases the likelihood of positive short-term outcomes for fathers. Study 1 Objective 3 (Secondary): Identify whether listening to brief, targeted educational podcasts predicts increased positive outcomes for fathers over and above the mentoring group alone. Study 2 Objective 1 (Primary): Identify whether participants who listen to brief, targeted educational podcasts find the podcasts satisfactory and acceptable as a method of gaining information about perinatal fatherhood.

Official Title
-----------------
DadSpace: Increasing Community Support Resources for Perinatal Fathers

Conditions
-----------------
Paternal Behavior, Father-Child Relations, Family Relations

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: DadSpace


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Participants must be expecting a baby or have a baby less than one year of age and planning to take the DadSpace mentoring program. Exclusion Criteria: Non-English speaking

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Perinatal father support primary intervention is small group mentoring program (with pre/post test data) run by educators at The Women's Clinic (TWC). Participants who sign up for the program early enough will be provided surveys approximately 1 month prior to the intervention start to provide a non-randomized wait-list comparison. Participants will additionally have access to follow-up daddy/baby drop-in groups and a podcast series and may be provided satisfaction surveys for both.
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: DadSpace Intervention<br>Participants will take part in a 12-hour educational discussion-based mentoring program intervention over 8 weeks. The intervention will be facilitated by a trained father facilitator and will include education and support on topics relevant to perinatal fathers. Topics include father identity, stress management, infant development, co-parenting, masculinity and caregiving, healthy communication, and work-life balance. Participants will additionally have access to a brief educational podcast series on related topics. Participants will also be invited to monthly follow-up daddy/baby drop-in groups. | Behavioral: DadSpace<br>* A group educational support and mentoring program for perinatal fathers.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory | This abbreviated version of the inventory assesses accurate knowledge (% correct) of infant development. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Self-Perceptions of the Parental Role-Competence scale | A 6-item measure of feelings of efficacy/competence in the parental role. Items are weighted on a range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating higher confidence in the parental role, a better outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Social Network Questionnaire-Satisfaction scale | 7 yes/no items on satisfaction with the support received from one's social network. More yes answers indicates lower satisfaction with the social network, a worse outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Role Conflict scale | 3 subscales that assess work conflict with family life, family life conflict with work, and work-family balance. Item values range from 1 to 6 for the first two subscales and 1 to 5 for the third (work-family balance) subscale. Higher scores on the first two subscales (work interference with family life, family interference with work life) indicate a worse outcome. Higher scores on work-family balance satisfaction indicate a better outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Perceived Stress Scale | 10 items related to anxiety, stress, and coping with upsets. Items values range from 0 to 4 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress, a worse outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale | 10 items that measure core features of postnatal depression. Item values range from 1 to 4 with a higher score indicating higher depressive symptoms, a worse outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Spielberger State Anxiety Scale (Short Form) | 10 items assessing feelings of upset and anxiety versus contentment at the present time. Item values range from 1 to 4 with a higher score indicating higher state anxiety, a worse outcome. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Coparenting Relationship Scale - Brief | 15 items assessing coparent collaboration versus conflict related to child rearing. Items values range from 0 to 6 with higher scores indicating a better coparenting relationship. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Pearlin Mastery Scale | 7-item measure of general self-efficacy versus helplessness. Item values range from 1 to 6 with higher scores indicating worse self-efficacy. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 
| Change in Paternal Postnatal Attachment Scale | Assesses fathers' positive feelings versus lack of enjoyment with the baby. Item values have been revised from the original scale to range from 1 to 6 with higher scores indicating more positive feelings toward the baby. | Every 4 weeks up to 16 weeks, including pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Perinatal