Early Childhood Interventions to Reduce Inequality in Educational Opportunities
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 入组人数
- 184
- 试验地点
- 3
- 主要终点
- Change in infant expressive vocabulary
研究概览
简要总结
The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of an interactive parent-child book reading intervention. The intervention includes two components: the provision of five children's books to parent-child dyads and information about how to practice interactive book reading. The investigators expect to find an effect of this intervention on a) infants' expressive vocabulary, b) reading activity, c) parental expectations and knowledge about language development and d) parental use of interactive book reading strategies.
详细描述
The foundations of optimal health, growth and development are forged early in life, when income-related gaps in learning opportunities already exist in Costa Rica. It is therefore important for the government to mitigate the effects of these gaps through programs targeting the development of academic, behavioral, socioemotional and economic abilities. Key to the success of such programs is to consider physical health, nutrition, responsive care and early learning. Multiple government-led initiatives in Costa Rica had been carried out in order to provide adequate programs for infants and young children. Evidence of these efforts are observed in the low rates attained in infant mortality, malnutrition and anemia, as well as the high coverage of the current immunization program. However, policies targeting early learning in children under 36 months of age are incipient and government initiatives in this regard are relatively recent.
The purpose of this study is to promote early language development, a central component of early learning. Our goal is to implement and evaluate a low-cost intervention targeting parents of infants who benefit from the existing immunization program of the public health services offered by the Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (Costa Rican Social Security Fund).
The investigators will use an experimental design to randomly assign 15- to 17-month-old infants and their caregivers to one of two groups: a control group or an experimental group. In the experimental group, caregivers will receive a package including five children's books and 36 text messages with information on how to practice interactive book reading with their children. This information will be delivered over a period of 12 weeks. The control group will not receive any treatment during the implementation of the intervention.
In order to measure the efficacy of the intervention, the investigators will evaluate a) infants' expressive vocabulary, b) parent-child reading activity, c) parental expectations and knowledge about language development and d) parental use of interactive book reading strategies at baseline (15-17 months of age) and at posttest (18-20 months of age) in the control and the experimental group. After posttest, the control group will receive the complete intervention.
The investigators expect to find an effect of the interactive book reading intervention on a) infants' expressive vocabulary, b) reading activity, c) parental expectations and knowledge about language development and d) parental use of interactive book reading strategies.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Basic Science
- 盲法
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
盲法说明
An external collaborator will create the allocation sequence for each of the two participating health centers (stratified randomization). Two independent research assistants will prepare the allocation in sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed and stapled envelopes. Aluminium foil inside each envelope will be used to render the envelope impermeable to intense light. This will allow the allocation sequence to be concealed from the researcher assessing participants at baseline. Once baseline assessment is completed, the next consecutively numbered envelope will be opened to reveal the participant's allocation.
Treatment for the experimental group will be provided by two different researchers who will not participate in outcome assessment.
A different researcher (outcome assessor), blind to the allocation sequence, to the participant's allocation and to the participant's baseline scores, will complete the participants' assessments during posttest.
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 15 Months 至 17 Months（Child）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- 未提供
排除标准
- •Neither caregivers nor infants must have any significant known physical, mental or learning disability.
结局指标
主要结局
Change in infant expressive vocabulary
时间窗: Baseline [15 to 17-months] and Posttest [18 to 20-months].
Infant expressive vocabulary will be measured with the short form (SF) Spanish versions of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). Parents will complete version I (CDI-SFI) of the inventory at baseline and version II (CDI-SFII) of the inventory at posttest. Scores on the CDI-SFI inventory range from 0 to 104. Scores on the CDI-SFII inventory range from 0 to approximately 100-135, depending on the complexity of the participant's linguistic production. For both inventories, higher scores indicate a better outcome.
次要结局
- Change in parental report of reading activities(Baseline [15 to 17-months] and Posttest [18 to 20-months].)
- Change in parental expectations and knowledge about language development(Baseline [15 to 17-months] and Posttest [18 to 20-months].)
- Change in parental use of interactive book reading strategies(Baseline [15 to 17-months] and Posttest [18 to 20-months].)
研究者
Ana María Carmiol
Professor of Psychology at Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas
Universidad de Costa Rica