The Unique and Combined Effects of Prenatal and Early Childhood Programming on Child Maltreatment: Examining Mechanisms of Change

Child maltreatment and child exposure to adult intimate partner violence (IPV) often co-occur and are detrimental to the mental and physical health of children, yet few prevention programs address these intersecting forms of adversity using dual-generation approaches. The proposed study is a rigorous randomized controlled trial that uses a 2x2 factorial design to evaluate the potential synergistic benefits of delivering programming prenatally and during early childhood in order to support the mother-child relationship and ultimately prevent child maltreatment. If effective in preventing child maltreatment, these programs have the potential for high public health impact given that they are both cost-effective and readily scalable.

NCT Number	NCT06732310
Lead Sponsor	University of Notre Dame Collaborators: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Conditions	Child Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence, Secondary Prevention, Parenting
Enrollment	600 participants
Start Date	2024-11-07
Primary Completion	2029-03-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2029-08-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-04-23