An interventional study of PALS and and BEECH in Growth & Development, sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 5 Months to 35 Months, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-05-09.
Sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
The purpose of this study is to learn whether a combination of two research-proven programs, a responsive caregiving parenting program and a teacher training program, will have an effect on infants' and toddlers' language, cognitive, social-emotional, and self-regulation skills. The interventions are designed to specifically target parent use of a responsive, stimulating caregiving style in the home in combination with teacher instructional practices and the use of a responsive interactive style in the classroom.
Exclusion Criteria:
Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) and Beginning Education: Early Childcare at Home (BEECH) include web-based parent and teacher training courses with remote coaching and in-person meetings that support the adults' developing a set of core behaviors that comprise a responsive interactive style including responses contingent to children's needs and interests with rich language input.
Behavioral: PALS and · Behavioral: BEECH
Parents and teachers conduct business as usual in regards to care-giving in the school and at home.
Behavioral: Control condition
Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) include web-based parent training courses with remote coaching and in-person meetings that support the adults' developing a set of core behaviors that comprise a responsive interactive style including responses contingent to children's needs and interests with rich language input. Parents will begin their 11 week (infant) or 14 week (toddler) parenting program in October and complete it by April. There will be monthly Parent Meetings related to the content they are learning online. Post-assessments will occur in late April and May. Each weekly online parent session will take approximately 30 minutes to complete with a 40 - 60 minute weekly remote coach call.
Beginning Education: Early Childcare at Home (BEECH) includes web-based teacher training courses with remote coaching and in-person meetings that support the adults' developing a set of core behaviors that comprise a responsive interactive style including responses contingent to children's needs and interests with rich language input. Teachers will complete the 20 online sessions weekly, except for planned center closings due to holidays or agency-related events. The three in-person trainings will occur before Session 1 and after Sessions 8 and 14. Each weekly online teacher session will take approximately one-hour for a teacher to complete with a 30 minute weekly remote coach call. Each in-person teacher training will be 6-hours in duration.
Parents and teachers conduct business as usual in regards to care-giving in the school and at home.
Change in teacher behavior as assessed by the The Quality of Caregiver-Child Interactions for Infant and Toddlers (Q-CCIIT) Scale
Scales: Support for Social Emotional Development (ratings range from 1 to 7 with higher values indicate better outcome), Support for Language and Literacy (ratings range from 1 to 7 with higher values indicate better outcome), Support for Cognitive Development (ratings range from 1 to 7 with higher values indicate better outcome), Areas of Concern (ratings range from 1 to 3 with higher values indicate worse outcome)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in parent behavior as assessed by coding of videotaped parent-child interactions during toy play in the home
The parent-child dyad will be provided with a set of age-appropriate toys to use during a 15 minute period where parents are asked to play with their children in "typical ways" with a few constraints (e.g., television must be off). Specific variables in each of the four responsiveness components (i.e., support of children's signals and interests, contingent responsiveness, rich language input, warm sensitivity) will be coded from the activity using a previously developed coding system for videotaped parent-child interactions.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in parent behavior as assessed by coding of videotaped parent-child interactions during shared reading in the home
Parent and child will be asked to engage in a 5 minute shared reading activity using books provided to family. Specific variables in each of the four responsiveness components (i.e., support of children's signals and interests, contingent responsiveness, rich language input, warm sensitivity) will be coded from the activity using a previously developed coding system for videotaped parent-child interactions.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child language as assessed by the Preschool Language Scale-Fifth Edition
Auditory Comprehension Scale (standard scores range from 50 - 150 with higher value representing a better outcome)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child language as assessed by the Early Communication Indicator
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child language as assessed by the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories - Short Form (parent reported)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child cognitive skills as assessed by the Bayley Scales of Development - III Screening Test
Cognitive Scale (cut score based on child's chronological age places child in either 'at-risk,' 'emerging,' and 'competent' category)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child social-emotional behaviors as assessed by coding of videotaped parent-child interactions during toy play in the home.
Children's social behaviors in the home will be coded for: 1) cooperation, 2) language use, 3) social engagement, and 4) initiative during parent-child home-based "free play" interaction.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child social-emotional behaviors as assessed by coding of videotaped parent-child interactions during c in the home.
Children's social behaviors in the home will be coded for: 1) cooperation, 2) language use, 3) social engagement, and 4) initiative during parent-child home-based "shared reading" interaction.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child socio-emotional skills as assessed by the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (parent reported)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child self-regulation as assessed by a delay task
A delay task will be administered to children 24 months and older. In the "Gift/Waiting for the Bow" paradigm the child is left alone for 3 minutes with the gift while the examiner gets a bow (actually, the experimenter will turn his/her back and engage in other activities) and is told not to touch or open the gift; latencies to touching and opening are recorded.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child self-regulation as assessed by a slowing down motor task
A slowing down motor task will be administered to children 18 months and older. In the "Walk the Line" task, the child walks as slowly as possible down a 6 foot tape line on the floor to their parent; times for a baseline trial (child walk to parent as they normally would) and two slow trials are recorded live. This measure taps early inhibitory control, particularly the ability to modulate a response to context.
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in child self-regulation as assessed by a suppressing/initiating a response task
A suppressing/initiating a response task will be administered to children 22 months and older. In the "Tower" task the child and the experimenter build a tower together out of big, foam blocks. The experimenter explains to the child what it means to "take turns." The experimenter then deliberately waits for the child to indicate that the experimenter may have a turn. This task also taps early inhibitory control, particularly the ability to inhibit a desired response (to place the block oneself), in favor of a more socially desirable response (give the experimenter a turn).
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in teacher characteristics as assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised
One depression scale (range from 0 - 4 with higher values related to worse outcomes)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in teacher characteristics as assessed by the Parental Modernity Scale
Two subscales: traditional beliefs (ratings from 1 - 5 with higher values representing traditional beliefs) and progressive beliefs (ratings from 1 - 5 with higher values representing progressive beliefs).
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in parent characteristics as assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised
One depression scale (range from 0 - 4 with higher values related to worse outcomes)
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in parent characteristics as assessed by the Parental Modernity Scale
Two subscales: traditional beliefs (ratings from 1 - 5 with higher values representing traditional beliefs) and progressive beliefs (ratings from 1 - 5 with higher values representing progressive beliefs).
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
Change in parent characteristics as assessed by the Parenting Stress Index, Fourth Edition Short Form
Time frame: baseline, 9 months
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The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston