Promoting Health Through Play Program: Improving Parent and Child Outcomes

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Child Development; Parenting

• Registration Number: NCT06781840
• Lead Sponsor: Yeshiva University

Brief Summary

This project aims to assess the feasibility of an intervention program consisting of parent online group sessions in addition to guided individual play session between parent, child, and occupational therapy student (OTS) or an occupational therapist (OT).

The investigators speculate that the Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities program will be effective in improving:

1. Parent ability to support their child's playfulness as measured during 15-minute video-recorded joint play activity at home using the Parent/Caregiver Support of Childre Playfulness \[PC-SCP\].

2. Child's playfulness behavior as measured during 15-minute video-recorded joint play activity at home using the Test of Playfulness \[ToP\].

3. Child's psychological adjustment as measured by the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire \[SDQ\].

4. Parent's perception and satisfaction from their involvement in the program as measured through open-ended questions.

Detailed Description

The Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities program (Halperin et al., 2021; Waldman-Levi \& Halperin, 2022) is a strength-based intervention that provides tools to help parents become change agents in their child's life through the promotion of healthy play opportunities within the family context. This research project aims to enhance children's development through playful interactions with their parents. The investigators speculate that the program will be effective in improving parent and child joint play experience and child's social-emotional functioning.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-01-21
• Status Verified: 2024-08
• Study First Submitted: 2024-09-13
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-01-13
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-01-13
• Study First Posted: 2025-01-17
• Last Update Posted: 2025-01-17
• Primary Completion: 2025-12-05
• Study Completion: 2025-12-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 10

Inclusion Criteria

• Enrolled in Head Start pre-school program within New York greater area
• Parent-child dyads
• Child must be 3 to 5 years old, with/without delay or disability.
• If a parent has more than one child in this age range, the oldest of them will be recruited for the study
• Parent IS committed to attending pre-and-posttest as well as online group sessions
• Parent has access to a device other than a phone (tablet, iPad, laptop) and has stable internet connection to be able to participate in the online group and dyadic session
• For the English-speaking group, parent must be fluent in English
• For the Spanish speaking group, parent must be fluent in the Spanish language.

Exclusion Criteria

• Parents with a sensory deficit (e.g., hearing or vision impairment) that will affect their ability to participate in an online group program
• Parents with psychiatric or behavioral disorders that affect their ability to participate in a group-based intervention

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Goodman R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. 38(5), 581-586. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1997.tb01545.x	through study completion, an average of 6 weeks	The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire assesses child's psychological adjustment. It contains 25 items measured on a scale ranging from 0 (no difficulty) to 2 (severe difficulty).
Parent/Caregiver Support of Children Playfulness (PC-SCP). Waldman-Levi, A., & Bundy, A. (2023). Parent/Caregiver Support of Children Playfulness (PC-SCP). AOTA Press.	through study completion, an average of 6 weeks	The PC-SCP assesses how parents or primary caregivers support children's ability to play. It is based on a 15-minute video-recorded observation of a parent-child joint play and contains 16 items. Scores range from 0 (low level of parent support of child's play or playfulness) to 3 (high level of parent support of child's play or playfulness).
Test of Playfulness. Skard, G., & Bundy, A. C. (2008). Test of Playfulness. In L. D. Parham & L. S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in occupational therapy for children (2nd ed., pp. 71-93). St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc	through study completion, an average of 6 weeks	The ToP assesses children's ability to play in a playful manner. It is observed during video-recorded 15-minute play and contains 30 items. Scores range from 0 (low level of child's playfulness behavior) to 3 (high level of child's playfulness behavior).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Parent post program interview	6 weeks	Semi-structured recorded interview

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Head Start; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States