Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T13:56:10.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A parent-directed language intervention for children of low socioeconomic status: a randomized controlled pilot study*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2015

DANA L. SUSKIND ,
KRISTIN R. LEFFEL ,
EILEEN GRAF ,
MARC W. HERNANDEZ ,
ELIZABETH A. GUNDERSON ,
SHANNON G. SAPOLICH ,
ELIZABETH SUSKIND ,
LINDSEY LEININGER ,
SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW  and
SUSAN C. LEVINE
DANA L. SUSKIND*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology
KRISTIN R. LEFFEL
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology
EILEEN GRAF
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology
MARC W. HERNANDEZ
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, National Opinion Research Center
ELIZABETH A. GUNDERSON
Affiliation:
Temple University, Department of Psychology
SHANNON G. SAPOLICH
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration
ELIZABETH SUSKIND
Affiliation:
University of Chicago Medicine, Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology
LINDSEY LEININGER
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of Illinois, Chicago
SUSAN GOLDIN-MEADOW
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, Department of Psychology
SUSAN C. LEVINE
Affiliation:
University of Chicago, Department of Psychology
*
Address for correspondence: Dana L. Suskind, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, MC1035, Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: dsuskind@surgery.bsd.uchicago.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We designed a parent-directed home-visiting intervention targeting socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in children's early language environments. A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate whether the intervention improved parents' knowledge of child language development and increased the amount and diversity of parent talk. Twenty-three mother–child dyads (12 experimental, 11 control, aged 1;5–3;0) participated in eight weekly hour-long home-visits. In the experimental group, but not the control group, parent knowledge of language development increased significantly one week and four months after the intervention. In lab-based observations, parent word types and tokens and child word types increased significantly one week, but not four months, post-intervention. In home-based observations, adult word tokens, conversational turn counts, and child vocalization counts increased significantly during the intervention, but not post-intervention. The results demonstrate the malleability of child-directed language behaviors and knowledge of child language development among low-SES parents.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 366 - 406
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

First and foremost, we would like to thank the participating families for so generously allowing us into their homes and for devoting a significant amount of their time to this study. Further, we thank Gabriel Weinberger and Robert Webber for conducting the statistical analyses, and Alison Hundertmark and Alyssa Anneken for designing figures and tables. This study was funded by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (UL1 RR 024999, KL2 RR 025000) to Dana Suskind and by the Hemera Regnant Foundation.

References

REFERENCES

Abraham, C. & Michie, S. (2008). A taxonomy of behavior change techniques used in interventions. Health Psychology 27(3), 379–87.Google Scholar
Ajzen, I. (1996). The directive influence of attitudes on behavior. In Gollwitzer, P. M. & Bargh, J. A. (eds), The psychology of action: linking cognition and motivation to behavior, 385–403. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Algozzine, B., Wang, C. & Boukhtiarov, A. (2011). A comparison of progress monitoring scores and end-of-grade achievement. New Waves-Educational Research & Development 14(1), 3–21.Google Scholar
Aronson, J., Fried, C. B. & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 38(2), 113–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baxendale, J. & Hesketh, A. (2003). Comparison of the effectiveness of the Hanen Parent Programme and traditional clinic therapy. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders/Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists 38(4), 397–415.Google Scholar
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H. & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: a longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development 78(1), 246–63.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Hendricks, C., Hahn, C.-S., Haynes, O. M., Painter, K. M. & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2003). Contributors to self-perceived competence, satisfaction, investment, and role balance in maternal parenting: a multivariate ecological analysis. Parenting 3(4), 285–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J. & Markman, L. (2005). The contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. The Future of Children 15(1), 139–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bugental, D. B. & Happaney, K. (2002). Parental attributions. In Bornstein, Marc H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Vol. 3: Being and becoming a parent (2nd ed.), 509–35. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.Google Scholar
Cartmill, E. A., Armstrong, B. F., Gleitman, L. R., Goldin-Meadow, S., Medina, T. N. & Trueswell, J. C. (2013). Quality of early parent input predicts child vocabulary 3 years later. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(28), 11278–83.Google Scholar
Christakis, D. A., Zimmerman, F. J., DiGiuseppe, D. L. & McCarty, C. A. (2004). Early television exposure and subsequent attentional problems in children. Pediatrics 113(4), 708–13.Google Scholar
Connell, C. M. & Prinz, R. J. (2002). The impact of childcare and parent–child interactions on school readiness and social skills development for low-income African American children. Journal of School Psychology 40(2), 177–93.Google Scholar
DesJardin, J. L. & Eisenberg, L. S. (2007). Maternal contributions: supporting language development in young children with cochlear implants. Ear and Hearing 28(4), 456–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dichtelmiller, M., Meisels, S. J., Plunkett, J. W., Bozytnski, M. E. A., Claflin, C. & Mangelsdorf, S. C. (1992). The relationship of parental knowledge to the development of extremely low birth weight infants. Journal of Early Intervention 16(3), 210–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, D. K. & McCabe, A. (2001). Bringing it all together: the multiple origins, skills, and environmental supports of early literacy. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 16(4), 186–202.Google Scholar
Dieterich, S. E., Assel, M. A., Swank, P., Smith, K. E. & Landry, S. H. (2006). The impact of early maternal verbal scaffolding and child language abilities on later decoding and reading comprehension skills. Journal of School Psychology 43(6), 481–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driessen, G., Smit, F. & Sleegers, P. (2005). Parental involvement and educational achievement. British Educational Research Journal 31(4), 509–32.Google Scholar
Duncan, G. J. & Murnane, R. J. (2011). Whither opportunity? Rising inequality, schools, and children's life chances. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House.Google Scholar
Flesch, R. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology 32(3), 221–33.Google Scholar
Forget-Dubois, N., Dionne, G., Lemelin, J.-P., Pérusse, D., Tremblay, R. E. & Boivin, M. (2009). Early child language mediates the relation between home environment and school readiness. Child Development 80(3), 736–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilkerson, J. & Richards, J. A. (2008). The LENA foundation natural language study technical report. Online: <http://www.lenafoundation.org/TechReport.aspx/Natural_Language_Study/LTR-02-2>..>Google Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S., Levine, S. C., Hedges, L. V., Huttenlocher, J., Raudenbush, S. W. & Small, S. L. (2014). New evidence about language and cognitive development based on a longitudinal study: hypotheses for intervention. American Psychologist 69(6), 588–99.Google Scholar
Good, C., Aronson, J. & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents’ standardized test performance: an intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 24(6), 645–62.Google Scholar
Greenwood, C. R., Thiemann-Bourque, K., Walker, D., Buzhardt, J. & Gilkerson, J. (2011). Assessing children's home language environments using automatic speech recognition technology. Communication Disorders Quarterly 32(2), 83–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halle, T., Forry, N., Hair, E., Perper, K., Wandner, L., Wessel, J. & Vick, J. (2009). Disparities in early learning and development: lessons from the early childhood longitudinal study – Birth cohort (ECLS-B). Child Trends, online: <http://www.childtrends.org/?publications=disparities-in-early-learning-and-development-lessons-from-the-early-childhood-longitudinal-study-birth-cohort-ecls-b>, pp. 1–7.,+pp.+1–7.>Google Scholar
Hanen Centre (2011). The Hanen Centre: helping you help children communicate. Online: <http://www.hanen.org/Home.aspx>..>Google Scholar
Harlaar, N., Hayiou-Thomas, M. E., Dale, P. S. & Plomin, R. (2008). Why do preschool language abilities correlate with later reading? A twin study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 51(3), 688–705.Google Scholar
Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1992). American parenting of language-learning children: persisting differences in family–child interactions observed in natural home environments. Developmental Psychology 28(6), 1096–105.Google Scholar
Hart, B. & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: P.H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Heath, C. & Heath, Dan (2007). Made to stick: why some ideas work in the world and others die. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Hoff, E. (2003). The specificity of environmental influence: socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development 74(5), 1368–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoff, E. (2013). Interpreting the early language trajectories of children from low-SES and language minority homes: implications for closing achievement gaps. Developmental Psychology 49(1), 4–14.Google Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Cymerman, E. & Levine, S. (2002). Language input and child syntax. Cognitive Psychology 45(3), 337–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Waterfall, H. R., Vevea, J. L. & Hedges, L. V. (2007). The varieties of speech to young children. Developmental Psychology 43(5), 1062–83.Google Scholar
Janz, N., Champion, V. L. & Stretcher, V. J. (2002). The health belief model. In Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K. & Viswanath, K. (eds), Health behavior and health education: theory, research, and practice, 45–66. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Kaiser, A. P. & Hancock, T. B. (2003). Teaching parents new skills to support their young children's development. Infants and Young Children 16(1), 9–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kashinath, S., Woods, J. & Goldstein, H. (2006). Enhancing generalized teaching strategy use in daily routines by parents of children with autism. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 49(3), 466–85.Google Scholar
Klass, P., Dreyer, B. P. & Mendelsohn, A. L. (2009). Reach out and read: literacy promotion in pediatric primary care. Advances in Pediatrics 56, 11–27.Google Scholar
Landry, S. H., Smith, K. E. & Swank, P. R. (2006). Responsive parenting: establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills. Developmental Psychology 42(4), 627–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landry, S. H., Smith, K. E., Swank, P. R. & Guttentag, C. (2008). A responsive parenting intervention: the optimal timing across early childhood for impacting maternal behaviors and child outcomes. Developmental Psychology 44(5), 1335–53.Google Scholar
Levine, S. C., Suriyakham, L. W., Rowe, M. L., Huttenlocher, J. & Gunderson, E. A. (2010). What counts in the development of young children's number knowledge? Developmental Psychology 46(5), 1309–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacPhee, D. (1981). Knowledge of infant development inventory. Chapel Hill, NC: Educational Testing Service.Google Scholar
Mendelsohn, A. L., Valdez, P. T., Flynn, V., Foley, G. M., Berkule, S. B., Tomopoulos, S.,Dreyer, B. P. (2007). Use of videotaped interactions during pediatric well-child care: impact at 33 months on parenting and on child development. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 28(3), 206–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michie, S. (2005). Changing behavior: theoretical development needs protocol adherence. Health Psychology 24(4), 439.Google Scholar
Michie, S., Jochelson, K., Markham, W. A. & Bridle, C. (2009). Low-income groups and behaviour change interventions: a review of intervention content, effectiveness and theoretical frameworks. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 63(8), 610–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moorman, E. A. & Pomerantz, E. M. (2010). Ability mindsets influence the quality of mothers’ involvement in children's learning: an experimental investigation. Developmental Psychology 46(5), 1354–62.Google Scholar
Nation, M., Crusto, C., Wandersman, A., Kumpfer, K. L., Seybolt, D., Morrissey-Kane, E. & Davino, K. (2003). What works in prevention: principles of effective prevention programs. American Psychologist 58(6/7), 449–56.Google Scholar
National Early Literacy Panel (2008). Developing early literacy: report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.Google Scholar
Ninio, A. (1979). The naive theory of the infant and other maternal attitudes in two subgroups in Israel. Child Development 50(4), 976–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, M. (2011). Parenting, time use, and disparities in academic outcomes. In Duncan, G. J. & Murnane, R. J. (eds), Whither opportunity? Rising inequality, schools, and children's life chances, 207–228. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Renaissance Learning (2014). STAR reading technical manual. Online: <http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004384310GJD780.pdf>..>Google Scholar
Roberts, M. Y. & Kaiser, A. P. (2011). The effectiveness of parent-implemented language interventions: a meta-analysis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology/American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 20(3), 180–99.Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L. (2008). Child-directed speech: relation to socioeconomic status, knowledge of child development and child vocabulary skill. Journal of Child Language 35(1), 185–205.Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2009). Differences in early gesture explain SES disparities in child vocabulary size at school entry. Science 323(5916), 951–3.Google Scholar
Sacks, C., Shay, S., Repplinger, L., Leffel, K. R., Sapolich, S. G., Suskind, E., Tannenbaum, S., & Suskind, D. (2014). Pilot testing of a parent-directed intervention (Project ASPIRE) for underserved children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 30(1), 91–102.Google Scholar
Sauer, E., Levine, S. C. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Early gesture predicts language delay in children with pre- or perinatal brain lesions. Child Development 81(2), 528–39.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. I. & Welsh, C. A. (1967). Elicited cinitation as a research tool in developmental psycholinguistics. Berkeley, CA: Language-Behavior Research Laboratory.Google Scholar
Small, M. L. (2010). Unanticipated gains: origins of network inequality in everyday life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Snow, C., Griffin, P. & Burns, M. S. (2005). Knowledge to support the teaching of reading: preparing teachers for a changing world (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Stein, A., Malmberg, L. E., Sylva, K., Barnes, J., Leach, P. & FCCC team (2008). The influence of maternal depression, caregiving, and socioeconomic status in the post-natal year on children's language development. Child: Care, Health and Development 34(5), 603–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, J. H. Jr. (1984). Child development knowledge and parenting skills. Family Relations 33(2), 237–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, H. W., Chen, C. & Uttal, D. H. (1990). Beliefs and achievement: a study of Black, White, and Hispanic children. Child Development 61(2), 508–23.Google Scholar
Stipek, D. J. & Ryan, R. H. (1997). Economically disadvantaged preschoolers: ready to learn but further to go. Developmental Psychology 33(4), 711–23.Google Scholar
Suskind, D., Leffel, K. R., Hernandez, M. W., Sapolich, S. G., Suskind, E., Kirkham, E. & Meehan, P. (2013). An exploratory study of ‘quantitative linguistic feedback’: effect of LENA feedback on adult language production. Communication Disorders Quarterly 34(4), 199–209.Google Scholar
Tannock, R. & Girolametto, L. (1992). Reassessing parent-focused language intervention programs (, J. E. R. & Warren, S., Eds.) (Vol. 1). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
VanDam, M., Ambrose, S. E. & Moeller, M. P. (2012). Quantity of parental language in the home environments of hard-of-hearing 2-year-olds. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 17(4), 402–20.Google Scholar
Walker, D., Greenwood, C., Hart, B. & Carta, J. (1994). Prediction of school outcomes based on early language production and socioeconomic factors. Child Development 65(2 Spec No), 606–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (1997). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—3rd Edition (WAIS-3®). San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment.Google Scholar
White, K. M. & Wellington, L. (2009). Predicting participation in group parenting education in an Australian sample: the role of attitudes, norms, and control factors. Journal of Primary Prevention 30(2), 173–89.Google Scholar
Whitehurst, G. J., Arnold, D. S., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Smith, M. & Fischel, J. E. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology 30(5), 679–689.Google Scholar
Whitehurst, G. J., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Payne, A. C., Crone, D. A. & Fischel, J. E. (1994). Outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention in Head Start. Journal of Educational Psychology 86(4), 542–55.Google Scholar
Williamson, J. M. L. & Martin, A. G. (2010). Analysis of patient information leaflets provided by a district general hospital by the Flesch and Flesch–Kincaid method. International Journal of Clinical Practice 64(13), 1824–31.Google Scholar
Xu, D., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Yapanel, U. & Gray, S. (2009). Child vocalization composition as discriminant information for automatic autism detection. Conference Proceedings: 31st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Conference, 2009, 2518–2522. Online: <doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5334846>..>Google Scholar
Zevenbergen, A. A. & Whitehurst, G. J. (2003). Dialogic reading: a shared picture book reading intervention for preschoolers. In Van Kleeck, A. , Bauer, E. B. & Stahl, S. A. (eds), On reading books to children: parents and teachers (pp. 170–192). Mahwah, NJ & London: LEA.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, F. J., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Christakis, D. A., Xu, D., Gray, S. & Yapanel, U. (2009). Teaching by listening: the importance of adult–child conversations to language development. Pediatrics 124(1), 342–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed