Pediatrics – a leading, peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics – has published two studies of moms and children in Nurse-Family Partnership’s Memphis trial. These studies are the largest and longest follow-ups of Nurse-Family Partnership to measure youth cognitive development and academic performance and cost savings per family to government.
how are they now?
“It’s rare for studies of early invention programs to examine early-intervention effects over an 18-year period,” said David Olds, PhD, professor of pediatrics at University of Colorado and one of the lead investigators of the studies. “This new evidence shows promise that Nurse-Family Partnership’s effects may carry over into adulthood.”
Sign up for NewsLink
2
IMPROVED TEEN OUTCOMES
Children, whose mothers had an NFP nurse, had significantly improved cognitive outcomes and academic performance at age 18 compared to children in the control group. The following benefits were observed for the children born to high-risk mothers with limited psychological resources to cope with poverty, that is, those with lower intellectual functioning, mental health and sense of mastery:
• Math achievement scores
• Receptive language abilities
• Working memory
• Ability to accurately read others’ emotions
In addition, female children born to all mothers participating in NFP, as a trend, had fewer convictions at age 18. There were no other beneficial effects of the program on children’s behavioral health.
18-year follow-up studies show significant outcomes
Sign up for NewsLink