Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Jul 26;25:e43219. doi: 10.2196/43219.
Digital interventions help address barriers to traditional health care services. Fathers play an important parenting role in their families, and their involvement is beneficial for family well-being. Although digital interventions are a promising avenue to facilitate father involvement during the perinatal period, most are oriented toward maternal needs and do not address the unique needs of fathers.
This systematic review describes the digital interventions that exist or are currently being developed for fathers of infants from conception to 12 months postpartum.
A systematic search of the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase (using Ovid), and CINAHL (using EBSCO) databases was conducted to identify articles from database inception to June 2022, of which 39 met the inclusion criteria. Articles were included if they were peer-reviewed and described a digital intervention that targeted fathers of fetuses or infants aged ≤12 months. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and opinion pieces were excluded. Data from these studies were extracted and themed using a narrative synthesis approach. Quality appraisal of the articles was conducted using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
A total of 2816 articles were retrieved, of which 39 (1.38%) met the inclusion criteria for eligibility after removing duplicates and screening. Eligible articles included 29 different interventions across 13 countries. Most articles (22/29, 76%) described interventions that were exclusively digital. There were a variety of digital modalities, but interventions were most commonly designed to be delivered via a website or web-based portal (14/29, 48%). Just over half (21/39, 54%) of the articles described interventions designed to be delivered from pregnancy through the postpartum period. Only 26% (10/39) of the studies targeted fathers exclusively. A wide range of outcomes were included, with 54% (21/39) of the studies including a primary outcome related to intervention feasibility. Qualitative and mixed methods studies reported generally positive experiences with digital interventions and qualitative themes of the importance of providing support to partners, improving parenting confidence, and normalization of stress were identified. Of the 18 studies primarily examining efficacy outcomes, 13 (72%) reported a statistically significant intervention effect. The studies exhibited a moderate quality level overall.
New and expecting fathers use digital technologies, which could be used to help address father-specific barriers to traditional health care services. However, in contrast to the current state of digital interventions for mothers, father-focused interventions lack evaluation and evidence. Among the existing studies on digital interventions for fathers, there seem to be mixed findings regarding their feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy. There is a need for more development and standardized evaluation of interventions that target father-identified priorities. This review was limited by not assessing equity-oriented outcomes (eg, race and socioeconomic status), which should also be considered in future intervention development.
数字干预措施有助于解决传统医疗服务的障碍。父亲在家庭中扮演着重要的育儿角色，他们的参与对家庭的幸福有益。尽管数字干预措施是促进围产期父亲参与的有前途的途径，但大多数干预措施都针对母亲的需求，而没有解决父亲的独特需求。
本系统评价描述了现有的或正在开发的针对从受孕到产后 12 个月婴儿的父亲的数字干预措施。
对 MEDLINE、PsycINFO、Cochrane 对照试验中心注册数据库、Embase（使用 Ovid）和 CINAHL（使用 EBSCO）数据库进行了系统搜索，以确定从数据库建立到 2022 年 6 月的文章，其中 39 篇符合纳入标准。如果文章是同行评审的，并描述了针对胎儿或 12 个月以下婴儿的父亲的数字干预措施，则将其纳入。排除系统评价、荟萃分析和观点文章。使用叙述性综合方法从这些研究中提取和主题数据。使用混合方法评估工具对文章进行质量评估。
共检索到 2816 篇文章，在去除重复项和筛选后，有 39 篇（1.38%）符合纳入标准。合格的文章包括来自 13 个国家的 29 项不同的干预措施。大多数文章（22/29，76%）描述了专门的数字干预措施。有各种数字模式，但干预措施最常用于通过网站或基于网络的门户（14/29，48%）进行交付。超过一半（21/39，54%）的文章描述了旨在从怀孕到产后期间提供的干预措施。只有 26%（10/39）的研究专门针对父亲。包括了广泛的结果，其中 54%（21/39）的研究包括与干预可行性相关的主要结果。定性和混合方法研究报告了对数字干预措施的普遍积极体验，并且确定了支持伴侣、提高育儿信心和使压力正常化的重要性等定性主题。在主要研究疗效结果的 18 项研究中，有 13 项（72%）报告了统计学上显著的干预效果。这些研究总体上具有中等质量水平。
新的和预期的父亲使用数字技术，这可以用于帮助解决传统医疗服务中针对父亲的具体障碍。然而，与目前针对母亲的数字干预措施相比，针对父亲的干预措施缺乏评估和证据。在现有的针对父亲的数字干预措施研究中，关于其可行性、可接受性和疗效似乎存在混合的发现。需要进一步开发和标准化针对父亲确定的优先事项的干预措施。本综述受到限制，没有评估以公平为导向的结果（例如，种族和社会经济地位），这也应该在未来的干预措施开发中考虑。
