Effect of a brief training program for primigravid adolescents on parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding in the southeast of Iran.

Background Annually, about 16 million adolescent girls give birth, accounting for 11% of all births worldwide. Ninety-five percent of these births occur in low- and middle-income countries, and previous studies have addressed the need for parenting interventions in developing countries with limited health care resources to improve parenting behaviors. Objective To explore the effect of a brief training program for primigravid adolescents on parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding. Subjects We enrolled 116 married pregnant adolescents. Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted during August 22, 2016-February 3, 2017. The intervention group received three sessions of training on neonatal care, while the control group received the routine care. We evaluated parenting self-efficacy using the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E) questionnaire, the mother-infant bonding using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) and social support by means of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The participants were followed up for 1 month. Results The mean ages of the intervention and the control groups were 16.37 ± 0.97 and 16.27 ± 1.12 years, respectively. The intervention group obtained higher self-efficacy and bonding scores compared to the control group. The logistic regression model showed that the second (evoking behaviors) and the third (reading behavior or signaling) subscales of the PMP S-E, the route of delivery and women's educational levels could predict the mother-infant bonding scores. Conclusion Primigravid adolescents can benefit from brief interventions during pregnancy through improving their parenting self-efficacy and mother-infant bonding.