Thirty Million Words Project: A Feasibility Trial
- Conditions
- Parental Language Behaviors
- Interventions
- Behavioral: LENA Linguistic Feedback ReportsBehavioral: Childhood Nutrition EducationBehavioral: Home Visiting Educational Session
- Registration Number
- NCT01754077
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Chicago
- Brief Summary
The purpose of the proposed research is to evaluate the Thirty Million Words (TMW) Intervention through a randomized, controlled pilot study. The primary goal of the intervention is to enrich the early language learning environment of children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds by targeting parent skills that relate to adult word input and conversational turn taking. The investigators hypothesize that receiving the TMW intervention will result in changes in parent behaviors.
- Detailed Description
The investigators propose to administer the TMW intervention to a small group of parents from low SES backgrounds in the Chicago area, assessing outcomes for caregivers at specific time intervals after administration. An audio environment recording device, the Language ENvironment Analysis recorder (LENA), will be used to gather information about the child's home language environment. The treatment group will receive feedback from some of these home audio recordings to motivate behavior change. A comparison between measurements from baseline recordings (without linguistic feedback given) and recordings during the intervention program (with linguistic feedback given) will be used to evaluate changes in caregiver linguistic behavior. In addition to the report information, parents will also be provided with strategies for enriching the child's language environment, including advice on book reading and narration. A control arm will receive a brief nutrition intervention and complete the same number of recordings as the treatment group. The control group will complete the same assessment schedule as the treatment group. Assessment data will aid in evaluating the effects of the TMW intervention.
This pilot work is a critical step in understanding the language environment provided by parents of low-SES, the effectiveness of objective feedback, and the potential for change and improvement in parental behavior. After establishing a baseline of parent-child communication levels, LENA recordings will be performed at regular intervals to provide essential feedback and motivation for parents to continually optimize the language environment they provide for their children.
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 40
- Low-SES: income proxies and education proxies
- High-SES: income proxies and education proxies
- developmental delays
- medical conditions that affect child speech or hearing
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Thirty Million Words Project LENA Linguistic Feedback Reports The participants in the intervention group receive the LENA linguistic feedback reports intervention and the home visiting educational session intervention. Participants in this arm complete the same assessments as participants in the control group. Thirty Million Words Project Home Visiting Educational Session The participants in the intervention group receive the LENA linguistic feedback reports intervention and the home visiting educational session intervention. Participants in this arm complete the same assessments as participants in the control group. Control Group Childhood Nutrition Education The control group receives the Childhood Nutrition Education intervention. Participants in this group completed the same assessments as the treatment group. Following participation in the control group, eligible families were offered the opportunity to continue into the experimental group.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Parental Behavior Change - Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA): Quantitative Behavior Change (16 LENA recordings) Baseline (3 Recordings), 1 per week for 8 weeks (8 recordings), Week 14, Week 18, Week 22 The LENA provides data for the following categories of adult behaviors: Adult Word Count (AWC), Conversational Turn Count (CTC), and Television Time (TVT).
Child Behavior Change - LENA: Quantitative Linguistic Change (16 recordings) Baseline (3 weeks pre-intervention), 1 per week for 8 weeks (8 recordings), Week 14, Week 18, Week 22 LENA system provides information on Child Vocalization Count (CVC) and Conversational Turn Count (CTC) in the home environment.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method STAR Reading Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention Computerized assessment of parent reading level.
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Screen, short form (CESD-10) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention program Validated brief depression screen for parent. Appropriate referrals were made for parents who received a score above the CESD-10 cut score and who experienced suicidal ideation or self harm.
Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention, 4-months post-intervention Validated assessment concerning different types of parenting 'style'
Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (WASI) Approximately 3 week pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Parent IQ
Child Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Interactive assessment of child's receptive vocabulary
Child MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory Short Form (CDI) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention program; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Parent self-report of child expressive vocabulary.
Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Parent reported assessment of child problematic behaviors.
Bayley Child Development Screener Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention Short screener to assess child's level of development for five categories: cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, expressive, and receptive vocabulary.
TMW Questionnaire Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Novel questionnaire developed for use in the study. Assessed parent level of knowledge concerning child language development.
Parental Behavior Change - LENA and Video: Qualitative Changes Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention LENA transcription:Mean length utterance (MLU), type/token, syntactical complexity, gesture. Video: gesture, "responsive parenting" behaviors (e.g. being on child's level)
Parent Working Memory Test (Sym-Span) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention Computer administered assessment of parent working memory.
Knowledge of Infant Development Index (KIDI) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention Questionnaire assessing parent knowledge of infant development
Theories of Intelligence (TOI) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention 6 item questionnaire regarding incremental and entity theories of intelligence
Child Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT) Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Interactive assessment that evaluates child's expressive vocabulary.
Parent Stress Index (PSI) short form Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Parent self-report assessment of stress levels related to parenting
Models of Developing Language Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Parent self report evaluating parent's beliefs about language acquisition.
Demographics Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention; 1 week post-intervention; 4 months post-intervention Questionnaire about family background information and the child's developmental history
LENA Developmental Snapshot Approximately 3 weeks pre-intervention program; 1 week post-intervention program; 4 months post-intervention program Parent report of child's language development level
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
The University of Chicago
🇺🇸Chicago, Illinois, United States