 Participants in this study were urban African American mothers and fathers of preterm, low birthweight infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Fathers were eligible for the study if nominated by the childs mother. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group. Both groups were comparable with respect to race, maternal pregnancy history, education, income, presenceabsence of partner, infant gestational age, infant small-for-date status, and infant gender. 