Parent-Child Interactions:
A Program of Applied Research
Core Team Members:

Joyce Magill-Evans, PhD, Professor, Dept. of Occupational Therapy, U of Alberta

Margaret J. Harrison, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Nursing, U of Alberta

Karen Benzies, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Nursing, U of Calgary
Collaborators (current):

Cathy Kimak, Capital Health

Maureen Best, Calgary Health Region;

Megan Hodge, Speech Language Pathology, University of Alberta

Mark Gierl, Educational Psychology, University of Alberta

Sandy MacPhail, Project Coordinator

Clinicians and research assistants
Current Projects
 Fathers & Babies: Effects of a Brief Intervention on Fathers’ Skills and Sense of
Competence (Funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research; completion date, March 2006)
This study, conducted in Edmonton and Calgary, examines the effects of an intervention on fathers’ skills in interacting with a healthy term infant, their sense of parenting competence, and their sense of alliance with the child's other parent. Participants were 150 English-speaking fathers of fivemonth-old infants, 75 of whom were randomly assigned to either a control group which received one home visit with information package or an intervention group. Intervention fathers received two home visits, 1 month apart, during which videotaped father-child interactions were viewed with positive feedback provided and a copy of the videotaped interaction mailed to the father after each home visit. Interactions were measured just prior to intervention when the baby was 5 months old and post-intervention when the baby was 8 months old. Findings of the study have immediate implications for those providing services for families of young children.

Effects on Child Language Development of a Brief Intervention for Fathers and
Babies (Funded by Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, U of Calgary Faculty of
Nursing Endowment Fund; completion date, September 2006)
This study examines which of the home visiting interventions with fathers is associated with more advanced language development when the infant is 12 months and 18 months of age. Parents living in both Edmonton and Calgary will describe their child’s language development using two parent report questionnaires. In addition, 50 fathers and children living in the Edmonton area will have a visit from a speech language pathologist to measure the child’s language skills. If the more intense home visits are associated with greater increases in child language skills, this approach could be used with fathers of children at risk for language delays due to developmental or environmental risk factors.

Past Projects/Papers:

Preterm children and their parents:
- Benzies, K., Harrison, M. J., & Magill-Evans, J. (2004) Parenting stress, marital quality, and child behavior problems at Age 7 years. Public Health Nursing, 21,
111-121.
- Benzies, K., Harrison, M. J., & Magill-Evans, J. (2004). Parenting and childhood behavior problems: Mothers’ and fathers’ voices. Issues in Mental Health
Nursing, 25 , 9-24.
- Magill-Evans, J .
, Harrison, M. J., Van der Zalm, J., & Holdgrafer, G. (2002).
Long-term development of healthy preterm infants. Physical and Occupational
Therapy in Pediatrics, 22 (1), 41-56.
- Magill-Evans, J., & Harrison, M. J. (2001). Parent-child interactions, parenting stress and developmental outcomes at 4 years. Children’s Health Care, 30 , 135-
150.

Children with disabilities and their parents:
- Ganadaki, E ., & Magill-Evans, J . (2003). Mothers’ and fathers’ interactions with a child with motor delays. American Journal of Occupational Therapy , 57 , 463-
467.

Fathers:
- Boechler, V., Harrison, M. J., & Magill-Evans, J. (2003) Father-child teaching interactions: Relationship with father involvement in caregiving. Journal of
Pediatric Nursing, 18 , 46-51.
- Harrison, M. J., Magill-Evans, J., & Sadoway, D. (2001). Scores on the Nursing
Child Assessment Teaching Scale for father-toddler dyads. Public Health
Nursing, 18 (2), 94-100
- Magill-Evans, J., & Harrison, M. J. (1999). Parent-child interactions and development of toddlers born preterm. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21,
292-307.
- Harrison, M. J., MagillEvans, J., & Benzies, K. M. (1999). Fathers’Scores on the
Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale: Are they different from those of mothers? Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 14 (4), 248-254.
- Benzies, K., Harrison, M. J., & Magill-Evans, J. (1998). Impact of marital quality and parent-infant interaction on preschool behavior problems. Public Health
Nursing, 15 , 35-43.
- Onyskiw, J., Harrison, M. J., & MagillEvans, J. (1997). Mothers’ and fathers’ childhood experiences in the family of origin and the quality of current parentinfant interactions. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 19 , 501-518.