Can a Child-Problem Focused Intervention Reduce Mothers' Stress?

Objective. This study investigates if a child-problem focused intervention could reduce stress related to parenting. Design. Mothers (n = 33) seeking help from a specialist child health center for their child's sleeping or feeding problems were compared to mothers (n = 66) with a child of the same sex and age but without contact with the clinic. The two groups were equal regarding level of stress before intervention contacts started. The intervention consisted of individualized treatment strategies. Results. The intervention was connected with a significantly larger reduction in the general stress level in the intervention group than in the comparison group. Intervention mothers increased their competence, reduced their experience of being restricted by parental responsibilities, and increased their satisfaction with their spousal relationship after the intervention more than mothers in the group without intervention contacts. Child-related problems were also significantly reduced in the intervention group. Conclusions. This study supports the importance of early interventions to help parents cope with everyday problems such as child sleeping and feeding problems.