Teaching Infant-Care Skills to First-Time Fathers: A Comparison of Two Training Methods

Lisa K. Largo

Date of Award

4-1991

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. R. Wayne Fuqua

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Abstract Only

Restricted to Campus until

4-2038

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative effectiveness of two training methods, a training videotape and a training manual, in teaching infant-care skills such as holding, diapering, feeding, burping, and temperature-taking to first-time fathers. Factors evaluated include: the effectiveness of the two methods in teaching the particular skills and relevant facts concerning infant care, as well as consumer satisfaction and preferences for one training method or the other. Information gathered from this study may contribute to the development of more effective training methods, possibly for use with parents at risk of abuse, neglect, or inadequate care of children, such as teenage mothers, single parents, mentally retarded parents, alcoholic, or mentally ill parents.

The effectiveness of the videotaped training and the training manual formats in teaching infant care skills to first-time fathers was demonstrated. Both were used to teach mostly upper-middle class fathers to provide care to their newborns. The training video was slightly more effective in teaching fathers to perform the infant-care skills and the written training manual was somewhat more effective in teaching factual information relevant to the infant-care skills. Considering the cost-effectiveness and range of individuals who can be adequately trained with a videotape training program, its use may be merited for use and evaluation with a broader range of individuals.

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