This program is delivered to parents of infants and young children who are considered to be at risk due to mental health challenges, trauma, drug use problems, or learning difficulties and is intended to impact parents, infants, and children.

Going Mellow (or Mellow Babies), which can be delivered as Mellow Mums or Mellow Dads, is a community-based, selective parenting program that is designed to provide support and information to participants to help them build positive feelings about themselves, improve their parental sensitivity and parenting skills, and enhance their attachment to and relationships with their babies and young children.

Results from one randomized wait-list control trial (RCT) found that mothers in the treatment group experienced improvements in depression at a 4-month follow-up compared to mothers in the control group. In addition, mothers in the treatment group had improved quality of parent-infant interaction compared to mothers in the control group. Results from a second wait-list RCT found that mothers in the intervention group experienced more positive interactions with their babies at posttest compared to mothers in the control group. However, there was no improvement in mothers’ mental well-being on any measure. Posttest results from two single-group studies indicated improvements in parent mental health and overall well-being, parenting confidence, perceived closeness of parent-child relationships, and child-conduct problems.

Going Mellow is delivered as Mellow Babies, which includes Mellow Mums and Mellow Dads. The program intends to positively impact a parent's mental and emotional well-being, enhance parental sensitivity and attunement, and improve the parent-child relationship. Sessions intend to help participants achieve the following:

• Understand their personal needs and the needs of their children;
• Recognize their personal strengths and the strengths in their relationships;
• Reflect on the effects of their experiences, particularly in their own early life;
• Enhance the well-being of their family;
• Strengthen parent-child relationships; and
• Improve responsive caregiving.

Sessions include strength-based video feedback and interactive tasks, and parents are encouraged to practice new skills at home.

The Mellow Mums program has been used with mothers who have postnatal depression, families involved with child protection services, and parents who lack social support or who are experiencing psychological distress. Additional previous use information was not located.

Training is required, and facilitators do not need to be specialists; however, experience working with young children and their families is necessary. A 3-day, in-person training is available. Please use details in the Contact section for more information.

Considerations for implementing this program include recruiting facilitators and ensuring they receive training, acquiring participant buy-in, finding suitable times to hold sessions, locating space to hold sessions, and providing a meal and child care during sessions and transportation to and from sessions.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Going Mellow, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

The program consists of 14 weekly sessions that are 4 to 5 hours each.

Information on implementation costs was not located.

To move Going Mellow to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals.  Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact Mellow Parenting by mail Unit 4, 6 Harmony Row, Glasgow G51 3BA, phone +44 (0) 141 445 6066, email enquiries@mellowparenting.org, or visit https://www.mellowparenting.org/contact/

https://www.mellowparenting.org/programmes/going-mellow-1/ , https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/mellow-babies/, and Puckering, McIntosh, Hickey, and Longford (2010).