Rx for Success: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Technology-Based Dialogic Reading Training

Shared reading, most often between a parent and child, has been described as "the single most important activity for developing the knowledge required for eventual success in reading." The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends daily shared reading beginning as soon as possible after birth. Shared reading occurs in the context of home reading environment, comprised of quantitative factors such as access to books and reading frequency, and qualitative factors such as verbal interactivity and engagement during shared reading. Each of these are addressed by the Reach Out and Read (ROR) program, a population-level, evidence-based intervention based in pediatric primary care clinics. ROR serves low-socioeconomic status (SES) families at-risk for adverse outcomes during a critical span of cognitive, social-emotional and underlying brain development between birth and age 5, when children typically enter kindergarten. The ROR model is for practitioners to capitalize on their privileged access to families with young children during well-child visits to provide a new, age-appropriate children's book, developmental screening related to early literacy skills, and encouragement for families to read together.

Dialogic reading is a method of shared reading that promotes reciprocal dialogue between a caregiver and child, originally developed for low-SES families where such interactivity is often lacking, a major contributor to the widely cited "30-million word gap." The dialogic approach involves specific types of prompts, responses, and references to the child's life, sophistication increasing with age and ability, with the ultimate goal of the child "becoming the reader." Behavioral evidence suggests that dialogic reading may confer moderate to large benefits beginning in infancy, especially in children from low-SES households. These include oral language, narrative comprehension, print concepts, and attention, which are foundational emergent literacy skills. Social-emotional benefits have also been shown, including increased parent-child bonding, pro-social behavior11 and enjoyment of reading. Recent neuroimaging-based studies have also found positive correlation between shared reading quality applying dialogic criteria and brain function supporting emergent literacy in preschool-age children.

A dose-response effect of dialogic reading has been suggested, manifest through greater adherence and practice. However, shared reading quality ("dialogic-ness") tends to be particularly low in low-SES households, attributed to deficient reading abilities, role models, and routines. Several approaches to dialogic reading intervention have been shown to be effective, including video-based training, especially when supplemental instruction and practice are provided to optimize and sustain learning. The ROR program encourages primary care providers to advocate and model dialogic reading during well-child visits, though in practice this can be challenging, given time, reimbursement and other constraints. Thus, despite improved outcomes, there is a need to amplify the ROR intervention in a time-efficient way to address the persistent readiness gap between low-income and more affluent children.

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to explore the efficacy of amplifying dialogic reading training provided to families of infants and toddlers in the ROR program using a novel, smartphone-based application (Rx for Success; RS). The RS app includes videos modeling dialogic reading for a variety of child ages, interactive games, and text messaging reminders to empower parents and other caregivers to increase constructive cognitive and social-emotional stimulation in the home through book sharing. This study addresses a major evidence gap regarding the efficacy of dialogic reading training to improve cognitive and social-emotional health using a mobile, technology-based approach. It leverages existing ROR infrastructure and will provide valuable pilot data to improve and scale this inexpensive clinical resource and guide future longitudinal studies, to better serve low-SES, at-risk families.

This is a prospective, randomized controlled trial involving 2 age categories of low-SES caregiver-child dyads served by the Reach Out and Read (ROR) program, each followed for 6 months. For each category, a baseline assessment (pre-) and an outcomes assessment (post-) will be conducted, to explore effects of "enhanced" ROR using the Rx for Success (RS) smartphone app. Category 1 will involve 6 month-old infants, followed until they are 12 months old. Category 2 will involve 18 month-old toddlers, followed until they are 24 months old. Recruitment, informed consent, behavioral testing and intervention will take place at a high-volume primary care clinic based in a major, urban academic medical center in Connecticut (Community Health Center, Inc. at Connecticut Children's Medical Center; CHC@CCMC). Providers in the clinical sites are trained in child development and the administration of ROR during well-child visits between birth and age 5, including those involved with our study at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months old.