title: Crisis child care: an intervention for at-risk families.
abstract: Crisis child care programs provide parents in crisis with a break from the stresses of childrearing and provide at-risk children with a safe environment. This study describes parenting stress as the construct of measurement in a pilot project in a predominantly rural midwestern state. The Parenting Stress Index/Short Form (PSI/SF) was used to measure the amount of stress experienced by the parent as a result of the parenting role. Comparisons of the mothers' PSI/SF pretest and posttest scores indicated significant improvement in the construct areas of Total Stress. Parental Distress. Difficult Child, and Life Stress. Comparison of child maltreatment rates indicated that there was a significant decrease (X2 = 16.91, p < 0.0001) in the reported incidence of child maltreatment in the rural counties with a crisis child care program compared with counties that did not offer this intervention. Overall, these findings indicate that crisis child care is an effective preventive intervention for at-risk families. The investigator suggests that nurses enhance their collaborative relationships with these programs to provide a more seamless avenue for both receiving and providing referrals.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52240, USA. perle-cowen@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Cowen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002654:Child Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003419:Crisis Intervention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007484:Iowa / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*