Clinical Trial: Promoting Early School Readiness in Primary Health Care

Study Status: Active, not recruiting
Recruit Status: Active, not recruiting
Study Type: Interventional

Official Title: Promoting Early School Readiness in Primary Health Care

Brief Summary:

This project will measure the degree to which parenting programs based in pediatric primary care can be effective in promoting language development and school readiness in at-risk young children.

The study is a randomized controlled trial in which two different primary care-based parenting programs will be compared to a control group in a population that is at risk on the basis of poverty. The two programs represent varying levels of low intensity, but each has the same goals: enhancing parent-child interaction in order to improve language, cognitive and social-emotional development and ultimately promote school readiness and school performance.

One program is called the "Video Interaction Project". While waiting to see the primary care provider for well child care, the family meets with a child development specialist, who videotapes the parent and infant interacting together. The videotape is then rewound and watched together by the parent (and infant!) and child development specialist. This leads to a discussion about child development, infant cues and parenting, with the child development specialist building on observed strengths in the interaction. In addition, families are provided with parenting pamphlets developed for the project, and with inexpensive developmentally stimulating toys.

The other program is called the "ASQ-Building Blocks Project". This project employs a public health approach to facilitate parental engagement in child development. Families are sent monthly newsletters that focus on child development, infant cues and parenting; included with each newsletter is an inexpensive, developmentally stimulating toy. In addition, families periodically receive Ages and Stages Questionnaires, which they complete and mail back to the program. B

Detailed Summary:

This project will measure the degree to which parenting programs based in pediatric primary care can be effective in promoting language development and school readiness in at-risk young children. The study will represent a collaboration between the Department of Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine - Bellevue Hospital Center, the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, Inc., and the Center for Research on Culture, Development and Education at New York University Steinhardt School of Education. Initial funding was provided by NICHD for 4 years. NICHD provided 5 additional years of competing renewal funding beginning in July, 2010.

The study is a randomized controlled trial in which two different primary care-based parenting programs will be compared to a control group in a population that is at risk on the basis of poverty. The two programs represent varying levels of low intensity, but each has the same goals: enhancing parent-child interaction in order to improve language, cognitive and social-emotional development and ultimately promote school readiness and school performance.

One program is called the "Video Interaction Project". While waiting to see the primary care provider for well child care, the family meets with a child development specialist, who videotapes the parent and infant interacting together. The videotape is then rewound and watched together by the parent and child development specialist. This leads to a discussion about child development, infant cues and parenting, with the child development specialist building on observed strengths in the interaction. In addition, families are provided with parenting pamphlets developed for the project, and with inexpensive developmentally stimulating toys.

The other program i
Sponsor: New York University School of Medicine

Current Primary Outcome:

  • Discipline assessed using the Discipline Survey [ Time Frame: 6, 14, 24, 36, 54 mos and in 1st grade ]
    Discipline mediates effects of poverty on social-emotional outcomes (Gershoff, 2007), and attitudes about discipline practices form early in children's lives (Socolar, 1996).
  • Stress related to interactions and lack of warmth will be assessed using The Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI) [ Time Frame: 6, 14, 24, 36, 54 mos and in 1st grade ]
    Stress related to interactions and lack of warmth mediate effects of poverty on emotional outcomes.
  • Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development [ Time Frame: 14, 24, and 36 mos ]
    Will assess cognitive development
  • Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities [ Time Frame: 14, 24, and 36 mos ]
    Will be used to estimate child's cognitive. Four sub-tests will be used: Verbal comprehension (VC) assesses the comprehension knowledge Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive factor (Gc); Memory for Words and Auditory Working Memory assess the short term memory CHC factor (Gsm); Visual Matching measures the CHC processing speed factor (Gs).


Original Primary Outcome:

  • Parent-child interaction
  • Parenting behaviors - reading aloud, play, verbal responsivity, engagement
  • Cognitive Development
  • Language Development
  • Social-emotional Development
  • Literacy Development
  • School Readiness


Current Secondary Outcome:

Original Secondary Outcome:

  • Need for developmental services (early intervention, special education)
  • Media exposure
  • Feeding behaviors
  • Nutritional status / obesity


Information By: New York University School of Medicine

Dates:
Date Received: September 19, 2005
Date Started: November 2005
Date Completion: January 2018
Last Updated: February 23, 2017
Last Verified: February 2017