[An urban-rural comparison of family stress and early childhood intervention: Data linkage between two cross-sectional studies]. / Ein Stadt-Land-Vergleich familialer Belastungen und Früher Hilfen.

An urban-rural comparison of family stress and early childhood intervention: Data linkage between two cross-sectional studies Abstract. Background: So far, there is insufficient information about where in Germany which families are reached by home-visiting programs and how well. One example is the provision of home-visiting program by health service professionals (LaB) in early childhood intervention. Research questions: Are there urban-rural differences in psychosocial stress among families? What differences exist in terms of expanding support services, receiving a service, and using the offered LaB? Methods: Data from a representative family survey on psychosocial stress characteristics and the use of services, and a nationwide survey of professionals on the development and expansion of early childhood intervention at the community level were linked. Analyses included descriptive statistics and regression models. Results: Most psychosocial stress characteristics were reported with similar rates in rural and urban areas. Although the LaB program is more widespread in urban regions, it was more likely to be used in rural regions when offered. LaB was more likely to be used by families with migration background, with signs of depression or anxiety of parents, and with a child with perinatal adversities, and less likely when there was a need for expansion of this service. Conclusions: The increased use in rural areas could be due to the fact that there are long distances to few centralized services. Therefore, the outreach character of the LaB program is appreciated, especially among less mobile families.