Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., Chamberlin, R., & Tatelbaum, R. (1986). Preventing child abuse and neglect: A randomized trial of nurse home visitation. Pediatrics, 78(1), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.78.1.65

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 400

Population:

• Age — 47% younger than 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 89% Caucasian
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were determined at intake to have at least one risk factor: mother less than 19 years old, single parent status, or low socioeconomic status.

Location/Institution: Elmira, New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test a program of prenatal and infancy home visitation by nurses as a method of preventing a wide range of health and developmental problems in children born to primiparas who were either teenagers, unmarried, or of low socioeconomic status. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months [now called Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include administrative data, child abuse and neglect records from 15 states, the Bayley Scale, the Cattell Scale, and the Caldwell Home Observation Checklist. Results indicate that among women at highest risk, those visited by a nurse had fewer reports of child abuse and neglect; were observed to restrict and punish children less frequently; provided more appropriate play materials; and had fewer emergency room visits. In the second year, all nurse-visited women, regardless of risk status, had fewer emergency room visits and fewer physician visits for accidents and poisoning. Limitations include that unmarried women reported greater sense of control over their lives at the start of the study than did their counterparts in the comparison group, and possible systematic reporting bias.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Not specified.

Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R., & Kitzman, H. (1994). Does prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation have enduring effects on qualities of parental caregiving and child health at 25 to 50 months of life? Pediatrics, 93(1), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.93.1.89

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 316

Population:

• Age — 47% younger than 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 89% Caucasian
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were determined at intake to have at least one risk factor: mother less than 19 years of age, single parent status, or low socioeconomic status.

Location/Institution: Elmira, New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Olds et al. (1986). The purpose of the study was to examine, during the 3rd and 4th years of life, the health, development, rates of child maltreatment, and living conditions of children who had been enrolled in a randomized trial of nurse home visitation during pregnancy and the first 2 years of their lives. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months [now called Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include the Caldwell and Bradley Home Inventory and the Stanford Binet test of intelligence. Additionally, home visitors observed mothers’ interactions with their children, assessed exposure to hazards, and presence and accessibility of poisonous substances in the home. Pediatric and hospital records, as well as Child Protection Service records were also reviewed. Results indicate that no treatment differences were found for child abuse, neglect, or in intellectual functioning. Children in the nurse-visited condition had fewer hazards in the home, fewer injuries and ingestions, and fewer behavioral and parental coping problems noted on medical records. Nurse visited mothers showed higher levels of punishment and restriction, but the authors suggest that their analysis shows this level was associated with the lower instance of injuries and ingestions for the treatment group. Limitations include that unmarried women reported a greater sense of control over their lives at the start of the study than did their counterparts in the comparison group, possible systematic reporting bias, findings in favor of the nurse-visited, poor, unmarried teenagers for the Home Inventory have a greater chance of being sampling artifacts than do findings present for the sample as a whole, and randomization was not carried out within all of the subgroups on which the sample was stratified for analysis.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 2 years.

Olds, D. L., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R., Sidora, K., Morris, P., Pettitt, L. M., & Luckey, D. (1997). Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect. Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278(8), 637–643. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1997.03550080047038

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 324

Population:

• Age — 47% younger than 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 89% Caucasian
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were determined at intake to have at least one risk factor: mother less than 19 years of age, single parent status, or low socioeconomic status.

Location/Institution: Elmira, New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Olds et al. (1986). The purpose of the study was to examine the long-term effects of a program of prenatal and early childhood home visitation by nurses on women’s life course and child abuse and neglect. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months [now called Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include administrative data from New York State criminal records, Child Protective Services records, estimates of the use of Aid to Families with Dependent Children services, as well as assessments of behavioral impairments due to drug or alcohol use. Results indicate that women visited by nurses were less likely to be perpetrators of child abuse and neglect, and had fewer arrests, convictions, and number of days jailed. Limitations include that most of the positive results were concentrated among mothers who were unmarried and from low-SES households at registration during pregnancy, the reliance on self-reported measures, and that the findings may not be generalizable to a wider range of low-SES unmarried women.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 13 years.

Eckenrode, J., Ganzel, B., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Smith, E., Olds, D. L., Powers, J., Cole, R., Kitzman, H., & Sidora, K. (2000). Preventing child abuse and neglect with a program of nurse home visitation. Journal of the American Medical Association, 284(11), 1385–1391. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.284.11.1385

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 324

Population:

• Age — 47% younger than 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 89% Caucasian
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were mothers determined at intake to have at least one risk factor: mother less than 19 years of age, single parent status, or low socioeconomic status.

Location/Institution: Semirural community in New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Olds et al. (1986). The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the presence of domestic violence limits the effects of nurse home visitation interventions in reducing substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months [now called Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include the Conflict Tactics Scale, administrative data from New York State Child Protective Services records, and estimates of the use of Aid to Families with Dependent Children services. Results indicate that families receiving nurse visitation during pregnancy and infancy had fewer child maltreatment reports involving mother as perpetrator and study child as victim. The treatment effect decreased as level of overall domestic violence increased. Limitations include the intervention occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s in a semirural New York State community and care must be taken in generalizing the results to current interventions in other communities and with different populations, and the study enrolled a high-risk sample that may have experienced higher lifetime rates of domestic violence than samples drawn from lower-risk or more heterogeneous populations.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 13 years.

Olds, D. L., Robinson, J., Pettitt, L., Luckey, D. W., Holmberg, J., Ng, R. K., Isacks, K., Sheff, K., & Henderson, C. R. (2004). Effects of home visits by paraprofessionals and by nurses: Age 4 follow-up results of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 114(6), 1560–1568. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2004-0961

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 635

Population:

• Age — Mean=19.8 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 45% Mexican American, 35% White Non-Mexican American, 15% Black, and 3% American Indian/Asian
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were recruited from clinics serving low income women who had no previous live births and either qualified for Medicaid or had no private health insurance.

Location/Institution: Denver, Colorado

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of prenatal and infancy home visiting by paraprofessionals and by nurses when the child turned 2 years old through age 4 years. Participants were assigned to one of three conditions: developmental screening and referral at 6, 12, 15, 21, and 24 months; the above screenings plus home visitation by a paraprofessional during pregnancy and the first 2 years of the child’s life; and equivalent services with home visitations conducted by a nurse [now called Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory and the Preschool Language Scales. Results indicate that women visited by paraprofessionals were less likely to be married or live with the biological father of the child but worked more and had better mental health and sense of mastery. Children visited by paraprofessionals displayed greater sensitivity and responsiveness and had home environments supportive of early learning. Nurse-visited women had greater intervals between 1st and 2nd children, experienced less domestic violence, and enrolled their children less in formal daycare or preschool. Nurse-visited children had better home environments, better language and executive functioning skills, and better behavioral adaptation during testing. Limitations include that home-visited women might have responded to questions or behaved during the assessments in ways that were promoted by the program whereas their enduring behavior in other contexts was not affected, and the reliance on self-reported measures.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 2 years.

Olds, D. L., Kitzman, H., Hanks, C., Cole, R., Anson, E., Sidora-Arcoleo, K., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R., Holmberg, J., Tutt, R. A., Stevenson, A. J., & Bondy, J. (2007). Effects of nurse home visiting on maternal and child functioning: Age 9 follow-up of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 120(4), e832–e845. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2006-2111

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 743

Population:

• Age — 64% were 18 years or younger
• Race/Ethnicity — 92% Black
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were actively recruited if they had at least two of the following risk factors: unmarried, less than 12 years of education, or unemployed.

Location/Institution: Memphis, Tennessee

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test the effect of prenatal and infancy home visits by nurses on mothers’ fertility and children’s functioning 7 years after the program ended at child age 2. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: free transportation to scheduled prenatal visits only; transportation plus developmental screening and referrals at 6, 12, and 24 months; the above services plus intensive prenatal home visiting services; and the above plus continuing nurse visitation through 24 months [now called Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. Measures utilized include the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, the Social Competence Scale, the Social Health Profile, the Teacher Observation of Child Adjustment Revised, children’s academic school records, and mothers were assessed at baseline on a created variable called psychological resources, which was comprised of intelligence, mental health, self-efficacy, and sense of mastery. Results indicate that by the time the child was 9 years old, women visited by a nurse had fewer births and longer intervals between children, used welfare and food stamps for fewer months, and had longer relationships with current partners. Researchers matched participants with the National Death index, of the 10 children found to have died, control group children were 4.46 times more likely to have died before the 9-year follow-up and more likely to have died by preventable causes (e.g., sudden infant death syndrome). Limitations include reliance on self-reported measures, program impact on childhood mortality does not reach conventional levels of statistical significance, and some of the outcomes are not independent of one another.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 7 years.

Eckenrode, J., Campa, M., Luckey, D. W., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Cole, R., Kitzman, H., Anson, E., Sidora-Arcoleo, K., Powers, J., & Olds, D. (2010). Long-term effects of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation on the life course of youths: 19 year follow-up of a randomized trial. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 164(1), 9–16. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.240

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 310

Population:

• Age — 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 78% Caucasian and 22% Other
• Gender — 53% Female and 47% Male
• Status — Participants were youths whose mothers participated in the Olds et al. (1986) study.

Location/Institution: Semi-rural community in New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Olds et al. (1986). The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of prenatal and infancy nurse home visitation [now called Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)] on the life course development of 19-year-old youths whose mothers participated in the program. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months (NFP). Measures utilized include youth’s histories of arrests, convictions, delinquent and criminal behavior, use of substances, educational achievement, pregnancies, births, and use of welfare. Results indicate that youth whose mothers participated in either of the two treatment groups were less likely to have ever been arrested or convicted than were those in the comparison group. Girls in the nurse-visited group also had fewer lifetime arrests and convictions than did those in the comparison group. Girls in the nurse-visited group born to high-risk (unmarried and low-income) mothers had fewer children and were less likely to have received Medicaid than were high-risk girls in the comparison group. Limitations include the reliance on youth self-report as the only outcome measure and the lack of racial diversity.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 17 years.

Sidora-Arcoleo, K., Anson, E., Lorber, M., Cole, R., Olds, D., & Kitzman, H. (2010). Differential effects of a nurse home-visiting intervention on physically aggressive behavior in children. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 25(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2008.07.011

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 721

Population:

• Age — Mean=18.1 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 89–92% African American
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were actively recruited if they had at least two of the following risk factors: unmarried, less than 12 years of education, or unemployed.

Location/Institution: Memphis, Tennessee

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the differential effects of nurse home visiting intervention (NV) [Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)]. on physical aggression (PA) and verbal ability among children aged 2–12 years. Participant were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: Intervention Group 1 were provided free roundtrip taxi-cab transportation for scheduled prenatal care appointments; they did not receive any postpartum services or assessments. Women in Intervention Group 2 were provided free transportation for scheduled prenatal care and developmental screening and referral services for the child aged 6, 12, and 24 months. Women in Intervention Group 3 were provided the free transportation and screening services offered in Group 2 and also intensive nurse home visitation services during pregnancy, one postpartum visit in the hospital before discharge, and one postpartum visit in the home. Women in Intervention Group 4 (NFP) were provided the same services as those in Group 3 but also were visited by nurses until the child's second birthday. Measures utilized include the Adult–Adolescent Parenting Inventory, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Results indicate that there were significant reductions in physical aggression observed among NFP girls at 2 years old and NFP children of high-psychological-resource mothers at 6 and 12 years old. Mediation analyses suggest that reductions in physical aggression yield increased verbal ability among girls. Limitations include that due to the fact that these were secondary analyses and there was not a specific verbal ability measure at 2 years old, the Bayley Mental article Developmental Index, a broader cognitive measure was used, and the reliance on self-reported measures.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 4 and 10 years.

Robling, M., Bekkers, M., Bell, K., Butler, C. C., Cannings-John, R., Channon, S., Corbacho Martin, B., Gregory, J. W., Hood, K., Kemp, A., Kenkre, J., Montgomery, A. A., Moody, G., Owen-Jones, E., Pickett, K., Richardson, G., Roberts, Z. E. S., Ronaldson, S., Sanders, J., Stamuli, E., & Torgerson, D. (2016). Effectiveness of a nurse-led intensive home-visitation programme for first-time teenage mothers (building blocks): A pragmatic randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 387(10014), 146–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00392-X

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 1,645

Population:

• Age — 19 years and younger (Mean=17.9 years)
• Race/Ethnicity — 88% White, 5–6% Mixed, 4–5% Black, 1–2% Asian, and
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were women who were eligible to receive publicly funded health and social care.

Location/Institution: England

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test the effectiveness of The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) [now called Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)] in a population of teenage first-time mothers on infant and maternal outcomes up to 24 months after birth. Participants were randomly assigned to FNP or usual care. Measures utilized include outcome data on birth weight, emergency department attendances and admissions, and second pregnancies; as well as self-reported and urine sample measures of tobacco use. Results indicate that there was no evidence of benefit from FNP for smoking cessation, birth weight, rates of second pregnancies, and emergency hospital visits for the child. Limitations include minor adaptations were made for implementation in a UK setting and it was delivered in a substantially different publicly funded and configured healthcare system than the previous studies in the US, which may have impacted the services received by the usual care group.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

Eckenrode, J., Campa, M. I., Morris, P. A., Henderson, C. R., Jr., Bolger, K. E., Kitzman, H., & Olds, D. L. (2017). The prevention of child maltreatment through the Nurse Family Partnership program: Mediating effects in a long-term follow-up study. Child Maltreatment, 22(2), 92–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559516685185

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 400

Population:

• Age — Parents: 47% younger than 19 years
• Race/Ethnicity — Parents: 89% Caucasian
• Gender — Parents: 100% Female
• Status — Participants were determined at intake to have at least one risk factor: mother less than 19 years old, single parent status, or low socioeconomic status.

Location/Institution: Elmira, New York

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The study used the same sample as Olds et al. (1986). The purpose of the study was to examine maternal life-course mediators of the impact of the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program on reducing child maltreatment among participants in the Elmira trial from the first child’s birth through age 15. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months only (control group); 2) free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; 3) nurse home visitation during pregnancy only, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months; or 4) nurse home visits until the child was 2 years old in addition to nurse home visitation during pregnancy, free transportation to regular prenatal and perinatal visits, and sensory and developmental screening at 12 and 24 months. Measures utilized include administrative data from New York State Child Protective Services (CPS) records, information regarding months on public assistance, and number of subsequent children. Results indicate that for women having experienced low to moderate levels of domestic violence, program effects on the number of confirmed maltreatment reports were mediated by reductions in numbers of subsequent children born to mothers and their reported use of public assistance. Together, the two mediators explained nearly one half of the total effect of nurse home visiting on child maltreatment. The long-term success of this program on reducing child maltreatment can be explained, at least in part, by its positive effect on pregnancy planning and economic self-sufficiency. Limitations include the differences observed in child maltreatment may have been caused by additional mediators that were not measured in this study; the contemporaneous nature of the measurement of child maltreatment and maternal life-course outcomes does not allow a definitive conclusion in the direction of the relation between these outcomes; the subsample employed was restricted to women reporting low to moderate levels of domestic violence, which was most of the women in the trial; and the external validity of the findings may be affected by the fact that the intervention occurred over 30 years ago.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 13 years.

Kitzman, H., Olds, D. L., Knudtson, M. D., Cole, R., Anson, E., Smith, J. A., Fishbein, D., DiClemente, R., Wingood, G., Caliendo, A. M., Hopfer, C., Miller, T., & Conti, G. (2019). Prenatal and infancy nurse home visiting and 18-year outcomes of a randomized trial. Pediatrics, 144(6), Article e20183876. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3876

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 742

Population:

• Age — 64% less than 18 years old
• Race/Ethnicity — 92% African American
• Gender — 100% Female
• Status — Participants were mothers, other caregivers, and youth who were enrolled in a previous study of Nurse-Family Partnership (Kitzman et al. 1997).

Location/Institution: A public system of obstetric and pediatric care in Memphis, Tennessee

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine whether the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program would improve 18-year-old first-born youths’ cognition, academic achievement, and behavior and whether effects on cognitive related outcomes would be greater for youth born to mothers with limited psychological resources (LPR) and on arrests and convictions among females. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either free transportation for prenatal care plus child development screening and referral) or prenatal and infant home nurse visit (NV) plus transportation and screening (NFP). Measures utilized include the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test 2, the Youth Self Report (YSR), the Drug Use Screening Inventory (Adolescent Version), and the Composite International Disease Interview, Substance Abuse Module (CIDI-SAM). Results indicate that compared with control-group counterparts, NV youth born to mothers with limited psychological resources (LPR) had better receptive language, math achievement, and a number of secondary cognitive-related outcomes. NV females, as a trend, had fewer convictions. There were no intervention effects on other behaviors. Limitations include nearly all behavioral health findings were based on self-report, the age range for completing 18-year assessments was larger than anticipated, and the number of outcomes analyzed raises challenges with multiple comparisons.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 16 years.