Maternal psychological characteristics as influences on home visitation contact

The current investigation examines how women's psychological characteristics influence their use of home visitation services in programs for mothers and infants in Elmira, New York, and Memphis, Tennessee. Subjects were 99 White (in Elmira) and 207 predominantly African American (in Memphis) first-time mothers. They were recruited during pregnancy and were provided home visitation services by public health nurses until the child's second birthday. In the Elmira trial, variables measuring number of home visits and amount of telephone contact were regressed on a measure of maternal sense of control over life circumstances. Sense of control showed a linear and quadratic relationship to home visitation, with number of visits decreasing as sense of control increased. Phone contact, however, showed a positive linear relationship with sense of control, as did support from partner. In Memphis, similar results were seen with home visitation contact using a measure of psychological resources (comprised of maternal intellectual and mental-health functioning and copying style). These results are interpreted in terms of the nurses varying their contact with families based upon their perception of the mother's need.