Parenting Research Centre | Coping with Fatigue

Coping with Fatigue

Are the strategies provided in the Wide Awake Parenting resource effective in helping parents of young children manage their fatigue and improve their wellbeing?

Wide Awake Parenting is a resource developed by the Parenting Research Centre to support parents to manage their fatigue and promote parental wellbeing. The resources for this randomised controlled trial have been developed and the study will help us identify whether the strategies are effective in improving parents’ management of fatigue, wellbeing and sense of competence.

Existing evidence shows that fatigue is related to poorer mood in parents, including heightened depression and anxiety, a lower sense of competence, and a reduced capacity to engage in optimal parenting practices. Wide Awake Parenting provides a range of strategies designed to help parents look after themselves, use their energy efficiently, make time for themselves and seek improved support when they need it.

The Wide Awake Parenting trial began in March 2011 and participants are being recruited from a range of settings, including maternal and child health nurse newborn home visits, maternal and child health centres, and a range of early parenting settings. Parents who agree to take part will be assigned to either an intervention or control group. Parents in the intervention group will receive the Wide Awake Parenting intervention, consisting of an initial home visit, four follow-up telephone support sessions, and the specially developed written resource. Parents in the self-directed intervention group will receive the WAP written materials only, but no further contact about the intervention from the research team. During the trial, parents in the control group will receive brief written information only, without the intervention strategies. However, they will have the option of receiving the intervention once data collection is complete.

Data collection occurs for both groups at recruitment, in the fortnight following delivery of the intervention, and three months after the intervention is completed. Information about a range of outcomes including parental wellbeing and parenting sense of competence are being collected and the intervention and control groups will be compared.