Pilot Implementation of Mom Power in the Appalachian Highlands: Acceptability and Effectiveness of a Parenting Group for Mothers with High Psychosocial Need

Children need safe, stable, and nurturing relationships with a caregiver for optimal development. Maternal childhood adversity, traumatic life experiences, and mental health challenges can adversely impact parenting beliefs and behaviors in ways that compromise a caregiver’s ability to create and sustain a healthy caregiving environment for their child(ren). In the professional world of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH), policies, providers, and programs work together to promote optimal child and family wellbeing to reduce the intergenerational transmission of risk and to empower resilience in families and communities. The present study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the pilot implementation of an evidence-based IECMH program, Mom Power, in the Appalachian Highlands (northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia). Mom Power is a ten-session attachment-based parenting and self-care skills group for mothers with high psychosocial risk and their young children. Participants included 78 mothers from the Appalachian Highlands who were recruited from primary care settings and community agencies. Results indicated successful engagement of families with high psychosocial need. Attendance was positively correlated with social wellbeing and negatively correlated with parenting stress, and participants with high attendance had greater improvements in social wellbeing and decreases in postpartum bonding impairments than participants with low/moderate attendance. However, involvement with Mom Power overall appeared to result in the greatest improvements in maternal psychological wellbeing, parent-child relationship quality, and social connection; not necessarily the number of sessions attended. Further, content analysis of participant feedback revealed themes related to parenting skills as the most important and helpful concept taken from the group. Themes of increasing participant connection, program logistics, and making the program longer were mentioned as areas of improvement. The findings confirm the feasibility of conducting Mom Power in the Appalachian Highlands and offer insights that Mom Power is effective at strengthening protective factors and promoting resilience, even if participants do not have perfect attendance. Implications for future studies on Mom Power in this region are discussed.