Effects of home-based, informal social support on child health.

To enhance mother-infant interaction, paraprofessional home visitors provided parents with emotional support, information, and help in using community resources during pregnancy and throughout the infants' first 14 months. This study reports effects on child health. Both home-visited women and controls made good use of well-child care. Home-visited women made greater use of sick-child care (p = 0.002), most of which was appropriate. The greater use of sick-child care was concentrated among mothers with moderate or high family stress, with whom home visitors had closer relationships. Case histories showed a variety of individual effects on parents.