Table 4

Evaluation period, outcome measures and parenting outcomes

Reference	Evaluation period	Outcome measures	Parenting outcomes
McNeil and Holland (1972), USA34	18–21 months	Knowledge of child health	Mean (SD) knowledge score. Int = 89.8 (18.7), Con = 76.4 (16.7). t=3.9, p<0.05
Grantham-McGregor and Desai (1975), Jamaica35	8 months	Playing and talking to child, awareness of child's mental abilities, awareness of educational value of toys, reading to child, positive motivation, time spent with child	Playing and talking to child, p<0.05; awareness of child's mental abilities, p<0.05; awareness of educational value of toys, p<0.05. No differences in other outcomes between groups. Data not presented for any outcomes, only significance test results
Gutelius et al (1977), USA36		24, 36 months		Mother–child interaction	Int = 20/46, Con = 6/45, p<0.01
				Appropriately handling aggression	Int = 15/44, Con = 6/42, p<0.05
				Promoting future school success	Int = 29/44, Con = 13/42, p<0.01
				Daily use of praise	Int = 37/44, Con = 27/42, p<0.05
Hall (1980)³⁸/ Law-Harrison and Twardosz (1986), USA39		1 month		Neonatal Perception Inventory		Mean (variance) score		NPI 1: Int = 1.27 (3.31), Con = 1.87 (2.92), p=0.05
								NPI 2: Int = 2.8 (6.8), Con = 2.14 (15.2), p=0.05
Siegel et al(1980), USA37		4, 12 months		Acceptance	Acceptance 4 months, p<0.05; 12 months, NS
				Interaction/stimulation	Interaction/stimulation 4 months, NS; 12 months, p=0.02
Stanwick et al(1982), Canada40		4 weeks		Mother's infant hygiene skills	No difference
				Knowledge about immunisation
Thompson et al (1982), USA48		30 months		Mean number of positive statements	Mean (SD) statements: Int = 5.94 (4.6), Con = 3.44 (2.58), p<0.06
				Mean number of positive responses	Mean (SD) responses: Int = 5.94 (4.6), Con = 3.44 (2.58), p<0.06
Maddenet al (1984), USA41		24 months		Mother–child interaction	Mean maternal interaction
				Mother's teaching ability		1974: Int = 324, Con = 216. F(1,36) = 12.2, p<0.01
						1975: Int = 352, Con = 178. F(1,14) = 3.38, p<0.1
						1976: Int = 267, Con = 156. F(1,40) = 18.6, p<0.001
Seitz et al (1985), USA42	10 years	Involvement with child's schooling only at request of teacher	Int = 1/15, Con = 6/15, χ²=4.59, p<0.05
Barker et al (1988),46 (1994), UK50		12 and 36 months		Mean difference scores on home socialisation, language, cognitive and educational environment46	Significant improvements in cognitive environment in 1 area at 36 months only and in educational environment in 1 area at 36 months.46Reported improvement in quality of reading environment in intervention group (no significance tests reported)
				Quality of home reading environment
Beckwith (1988), USA43		1, 9 months		% observed talking to child	1 month	9 months
				% observed holding child	Int = 47, Con = 31	Int = 31, Con = 20, F(1, 60) = 3.7, p<0.05
				Realistic developmental expectations		Int = 57, Con = 47	Int = 11, Con = 4, F(1, 60) = 4.2, p<0.05
						Int (mean) = 2.2, Con (mean) = 1.5, F(1, 63) = 3.9, p<0.05
Scarr and McCartney (1988), Bermuda44		18 months		Mother–child interaction	Significantly more intervention group mothers engaged in shared activities (p<0.01). No difference in extent to which mothers relied on physical punishment as opposed to reasoning. No difference in mother's teaching ability
				Discipline strategies, mother's teaching ability
Sutton (1992), England47	12, 18 months	Application score	Mean application score: A=6.00, B=5.50, C=5.25, Con = 11.82. All intervention groups had significantly lower score than control group
Johnson et al (1993), Ireland49		12 months		Percentage reading to child	Int = 98% (n=125), Con = 54% (n=57), p<0.0001
				Mean number (SD) of cognitive games	Int = 3.75 (2.11), Con = 1.62 (1.39), p<0.01
				Mean number (SD) of nursery rhymes	Int = 7.74 (1.65), Con = 3.50 (3.24), p<0.01
Seeleyet al (1996), England51	4 months	Mother–infant problems	Significantly fewer mother–infant problems in intervention group (χ²=13.3, 1 df, p<0.001)