Effect of 'Parentbot - a Digital Healthcare Assistant (PDA)' in Improving Parenting Outcomes During the Perinatal Period

Effectiveness of 'Parentbot - a Digital Healthcare Assistant (PDA)', a Mobile Application-based Intervention, in Improving Parental Psychosocial Outcomes During the Perinatal Period: a Randomized Controlled Trial and Process Evaluation

The Parentbot - a Digital healthcare Assistant (PDA) is a mobile application-based psychosocial parenting intervention with integrated chatbot features, intended for couples to use during the perinatal period. It provides parents with multimedia educational materials (text files, audio files and videos), discussion forum, guided mindfulness-based meditation videos, guided reflection and gratitude journals and a chatbot to answer their queries related to perinatal care in real-time.

This study aims to:

1. Develop a theory-based perinatal intervention with integrated chatbot features for both first-time and experienced parents
2. Examine the effectiveness of the PDA intervention in improving parenting self-efficacy (primary outcome), stress, depression, anxiety, social support, parent-child bonding and parenting satisfaction (secondary outcomes) among parents during the perinatal period
3. Examine the perceptions of parents from both the intervention and control group after the intervention
4. Collate suggestions for further improvement from the participants and members of the research team

The hypotheses of this study are:

The PDA intervention group will have significantly higher scores for parenting self-efficacy, social support, parent-child bonding and parenting satisfaction, as well as lower scores for stress, depression and anxiety compared to the control group receiving standard care after the intervention at one-month postpartum (post-test 1) and three-months postpartum (post-test 2).

Inclusion Criteria:

Heterosexual married couples who are first-time parents or experienced parents are included if they:

• Are at least 21 years old
• Are fluent in English
• Own a smartphone with internet access
• Intend to stay in Singapore until three months postpartum
• Are having a low-risk singleton or multiple pregnancy at > 24 gestational weeks (age of viability).

Exclusion Criteria:

Couples will be excluded if either parent has:

• Any self-reported psychiatric disorders, visual, auditory, cognitive impairment and/or any major medical condition that can affect their abilities to participate in the trial
• High-risk pregnancy including placenta previa major, pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction etc
• Suffer from a miscarriage or made the decision to abort their child
• Give birth to still-birth newborn
• Give birth to a newborn with congenital anomalies or medical complications (require intensive care, severe jaundice, Down's syndrome)

Single parents will also be excluded. If either the mother or father declines to participate in the study while their partner agrees, the couple will not be allowed to participate in the study.