The Effect of Parent-Infant Swim Classes on Maternal Parenting Competence, Emotional Availability, and Aquatic Handling
Faculty Advisor Name
Jeanne Wenos
Description
Low parenting competence and limited emotional availability decrease the quality of the parent-infant relationship (Young, 2011; Sturge-Apple et al., 2012). However, co-occupations, or reciprocal relationships where the occupations of two or more individuals are interactively shaping each other, have been associated with strengthening parent-infant relationships (Pierce, 2009; Price & Stephenson, 2009). Parent-infant swim classes are co-occupation based interventions that facilitate close bodily contact and teach parents handling skills that can generalize into the home. Numerous websites allude to the benefits of these classes; however, there are currently no evidence-based claims supported by the occupational therapy literature. The researchers hypothesized that parent-infant swim classes would provide clinically relevant improvements in maternal parenting competence, emotional availability, and aquatic handling skills.
This study utilized a concurrent, mixed-methods strategy with a one-group pretest posttest design and a phenomenological design within the lens of the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) Model. Mothers (n=6) were recruited from a parent-infant swim class, consisting of eight sessions lasting 30 minutes each over two weeks, at a community wellness center via convenience sampling. Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Tests indicated that the post-intervention scores were statistically significantly higher than the pre-intervention scores for Parenting Confidence for Efficacy, Z = -2.032, p = .042, Aquatic Handling, Z = -2.207, p = .027, and Parent-Child Interaction, Z = -2.060, p = .039. EA-SR Intrusiveness improved from pretest to posttest; however, the differences were not statistically significant, Z = -1.89, p = 0.06. Axial coding, utilizing themes derived from the PEO Model (e.g., aquatic environment on mother-infant relationship), was used for focus group analysis. Focus group analysis also revealed the maternal gains of participating in these classes: increased maternal comfort, handling skills, and interest in the aquatic environment. The results support the hypothesis in that parent-infant swim classes provide clinically relevant improvements.
The Effect of Parent-Infant Swim Classes on Maternal Parenting Competence, Emotional Availability, and Aquatic Handling
Low parenting competence and limited emotional availability decrease the quality of the parent-infant relationship (Young, 2011; Sturge-Apple et al., 2012). However, co-occupations, or reciprocal relationships where the occupations of two or more individuals are interactively shaping each other, have been associated with strengthening parent-infant relationships (Pierce, 2009; Price & Stephenson, 2009). Parent-infant swim classes are co-occupation based interventions that facilitate close bodily contact and teach parents handling skills that can generalize into the home. Numerous websites allude to the benefits of these classes; however, there are currently no evidence-based claims supported by the occupational therapy literature. The researchers hypothesized that parent-infant swim classes would provide clinically relevant improvements in maternal parenting competence, emotional availability, and aquatic handling skills.
This study utilized a concurrent, mixed-methods strategy with a one-group pretest posttest design and a phenomenological design within the lens of the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) Model. Mothers (n=6) were recruited from a parent-infant swim class, consisting of eight sessions lasting 30 minutes each over two weeks, at a community wellness center via convenience sampling. Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Tests indicated that the post-intervention scores were statistically significantly higher than the pre-intervention scores for Parenting Confidence for Efficacy, Z = -2.032, p = .042, Aquatic Handling, Z = -2.207, p = .027, and Parent-Child Interaction, Z = -2.060, p = .039. EA-SR Intrusiveness improved from pretest to posttest; however, the differences were not statistically significant, Z = -1.89, p = 0.06. Axial coding, utilizing themes derived from the PEO Model (e.g., aquatic environment on mother-infant relationship), was used for focus group analysis. Focus group analysis also revealed the maternal gains of participating in these classes: increased maternal comfort, handling skills, and interest in the aquatic environment. The results support the hypothesis in that parent-infant swim classes provide clinically relevant improvements.
