What works and for which children? Preventing early adversities
February 3, 2026
Photo credit: Kampus Production on Pexels
About
Nurse-home visiting programs that serve families experiencing disadvantage from pregnancy through early childhood are a promising approach to preventing early adversities. They also promote child and maternal health. Understanding which families benefit most from these programs can help inform policies to make the greatest impact on child health, and at the lowest cost.
We are conducting secondary analyses of BC Healthy Connections Project (BCHCP) randomized controlled trial data, involving 739 mothers and their 737 children, to explore differences in program benefits for diverse families (i.e., heterogeneity of treatment effects).The new knowledge generated by these studies will help policymakers shape early prevention programs to provide the greatest possible benefit for select families.
Principal Investigator
- Nicole L.A. Catherine
Funders
- Canada Research Chairs program (Catherine)
- SFU Faculty of Health Sciences Mowafaghian Child Health Faculty Award
- The original BCHCP trial was funded by the British Columbia Ministries of Health and Child and Family Development and four regional health authorities (Fraser, Interior Island and Vancouver Coastal) from 2012 to 2022.
Publications
- Effectiveness of Nurse-Family Partnership on child outcomes by patterns of program intensity: Secondary evidence from a randomized controlled trial (British Columbia Healthy Connections Project)
- Estimating heterogeneous treatment effects in a randomized controlled trial of a nurse-home visiting intervention on child outcomes: A causal forest
- Catherine, N.L.A., Zheng, Y., Xie, H., MacMillan, H., Boyle, M., Lever, R., Finne, J., & Waddell, C. (2026). Does a maternal history of childhood maltreatment influence prevention program impact on child outcomes? Exploratory findings from a randomized controlled trial in British Columbia. [Forthcoming]. Vancouver, BC: Children’s Health Policy Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University.