MedPath

Literacy Promotion for Latinos Study

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Parenting
Behavior, Child
Literacy
Language Development
Interventions
Behavioral: Usual care including ROR
Behavioral: Text messages
Behavioral: Connection to community resources
Registration Number
NCT04609553
Lead Sponsor
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Brief Summary

This study tests the extent to which tailored outreach text messages that provide a cue to action and an intervention that enhances access to poverty-reducing resources, in combination with standard primary care literacy promotion, can improve child language and social- emotional skill acquisition among low-income Latino children.

Detailed Description

The investigators propose a 3 arm randomized clinical trial to test strategies designed to enhance literacy promotion for low-income Latino families. The investigators will recruit 630 parent-child dyads from community health centers that serve low-income, Latino families. Parents will be randomly assigned to one of 3 arms (1) Reach Out and Read (ROR) an evidence-based literacy promotion intervention that is widely disseminated in primary care; (2) ROR plus tailored outreach text messages; (3) ROR plus tailored outreach text messages and enhanced access to poverty-reducing resources using a widely disseminated model that simplifies access and provides care coordination. In Aim 1, the investigators will test their hypotheses that (1) children in the ROR plus text message arm will have higher scores on validated assessments of language and social-emotional development compared to standard ROR alone and (2) children who receive both text messages and enhanced access to poverty-reducing resources will have higher scores compared to the other two arms. In Aim 2, the investigators will examine mechanisms that underlie the effects of the interventions. In Aim 3, the investigators will use mixed methods to conduct a process evaluation to understand how the interventions are implemented, identify barriers, facilitators, and modifications, and explore parents' experiences with the interventions.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
630
Inclusion Criteria
  • Primary caregiver of a child age 6 months to 12 months
  • Identifies as Latino/a/x
  • Primary language English or Spanish
  • Cell phone ownership
  • Age 18 years or older
  • Willing to receive text messages
  • Willing to accept being placed into one of three study groups
Exclusion Criteria
  • Children with multiple congenital anomalies or genetic disorders and previously identified developmental delays
  • Individuals unable to provide informed consent
  • Intent to discontinue care at current pediatric clinic / recruitment site
  • Discontinued care at one of the three pediatric clinics / recruitment sites

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Usual care including RORUsual care including RORLiteracy promotion is a pediatric standard of care. Participants in this group will receive usual care that includes ROR, a primary care literacy promotion intervention.
ROR plus text messagesText messagesIn addition to ROR, participants will receive three text messages per week, plus one interactive follow-up message per month, for the study period with scheduled breaks.
ROR plus text messages plus connection to community resourcesText messagesIn addition to ROR and text messages, participants will be referred to a county-based single point of entry system for referrals to community resources. This system simplifies access to poverty-reducing resources by creating a centralized access point, maintaining an updated data base of resources with existing capacity to support families, and providing case management.
ROR plus text messages plus connection to community resourcesUsual care including RORIn addition to ROR and text messages, participants will be referred to a county-based single point of entry system for referrals to community resources. This system simplifies access to poverty-reducing resources by creating a centralized access point, maintaining an updated data base of resources with existing capacity to support families, and providing case management.
ROR plus text messagesUsual care including RORIn addition to ROR, participants will receive three text messages per week, plus one interactive follow-up message per month, for the study period with scheduled breaks.
ROR plus text messages plus connection to community resourcesConnection to community resourcesIn addition to ROR and text messages, participants will be referred to a county-based single point of entry system for referrals to community resources. This system simplifies access to poverty-reducing resources by creating a centralized access point, maintaining an updated data base of resources with existing capacity to support families, and providing case management.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Child language skills18-month follow-up

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test - Fourth Edition (EOWPVT-4) Spanish-Bilingual - Assesses expressive language skills in English and Spanish. This multiple-choice format test consists of 190 items presented in developmental sequence; age-related starting points and cut-off points ensure that only a subset of items is administered. Higher scores denote stronger skills

Child communicative skills9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

Caregiver report of non-verbal communication and early expressive language assessed using the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories. The Words \& Gestures short form is an 89-word vocabulary checklist with separate columns for comprehension and production for children 8-18 months. The Words \& Sentences versions contain a 100-word productive vocabulary checklist and a question about combining words for children 16-30 months. Scores are summed and measured in percentiles ranging \<1st to 99th. Higher scores denote stronger skills.

Child social-emotional skillsBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

Caregiver report of infant and toddler social-emotional skills assessed using the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA). Total Protective Factors scale is a composite of Attachment/Relationships, Initiative, and Self-Regulation scales. Scores are standardized on a T-distribution (M=50;SD=10). Higher scores denote strengths.

Caregiver cognitive stimulationBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

The StimQ is a caregiver-reported measure of cognitive stimulation for children that includes domains on the home literacy environment (Reading scale) and responsiveness (Parental Verbal Responsiveness scale). The Reading scale includes 3 subdimensions (Book Reading Quantity, Diversity of Content, Book Reading Quality). Scores on the Reading scale range from 0 to 19. The Parental Verbal Responsiveness scale is composed of two subdimensions (Everyday Routines and Play and Pretend). Scores range from 0 to 15). Higher scores indicate more cognitive stimulation

Dialogic reading behavior9-month follow-up

The DialogPR is a caregiver report measure of shared reading quality. Score range from 0 to 30 with higher scores indicating more interactive reading.

Caregiver discipline strategies18-month follow-up

This questionnaire was modified from the National Survey of Early Childhood Health and asks two questions about verbal and physical discipline. Scores range from 0 to 6 and higher scores indicate harsher discipline strategies.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Caregiver attitudes about reading9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

The Parent Reading Belief Inventory is a caregiver reported measure of attitudes and knowledge about reading with children that includes subdimensions of positive affect (scores range from 0 to 33) and knowledge (scores range from 0 to 15). Higher scores indicate more favorable attitudes and greater knowledge.

Community resource participationBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

A series of questions that ask about caregiver and child participation in different types of community resources (e.g. food/nutrition support, income support, childcare assistance, etc.).

Caregiver-clinician relationshipBaseline; 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

The Physician-Parent Communication Survey is a caregiver reported measure of the caregiver-clinician relationship that examines subdimensions including interest and caring. Items are scored from 1 to 8 with higher scores indicating stronger relationships.

Social needs and stressBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

Caregiver report of social needs and stressors. Caregivers rate statements on social needs and stress from 0 to 4 with higher scores indicating greater needs and stress.

Parent stressBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

The Parental Stress Scale is an eighteen-item measure that assesses parental stress. Scores range from 5 to 90 with higher scores indicating greater stress.

Child media useBaseline, 9-month follow-up, 18-month follow-up

The ScreenQ is a caregiver report measure of media use in children. Scores range from 0 to 26 with higher score indicating more media use.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

🇺🇸

New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

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