RAPID: Broadening Access to Science-Based Information and Practices to Protect Families and Curb the Spread of COVID-19 Among Low Income Families—With a Focus on Latino Families

本RAPID是为回应NSF关于COVID-19大流行的致同事信而提交的。该奖项由学习研究部的AISL项目颁发，资金来自《冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全（关怀）法案》。2019冠状病毒病对儿童和家庭健康构成全国性威胁，对儿童的身心健康产生严重影响。儿童发展科学家已经警告说，美国儿童，特别是低收入有色人种家庭的儿童的压力水平正在增加。此外，拉丁裔儿童的贫困程度不成比例，他们从与文化相关的信息中受益。父母和照料者需要掌握有效的科学战略，以在这场全球危机中改善儿童的前景。利用已建立的伙伴关系，包括与地方电视新闻合作伙伴和家长服务组织的伙伴关系，可在2019冠状病毒病大流行期间加强对儿童和家庭健康和福祉产生广泛影响的可能性。随着疫情的持续，广泛传播以研究为基础的准确战略，以低收入拉丁裔父母为重点，为父母和家庭提供支持，对于在这场全球危机中满足美国最弱势群体的需求至关重要。该奖项通过制作关于儿童发展的以研究为基础的新闻视频，在广播电视台向低收入的拉丁裔父母分发，解决了这一迫切需求。这些视频将以与拉丁裔父母相关的方式传达有关COVID-19的基于研究的建议，并在这场大流行期间引导积极的养育方式。还将制作一个“如何”的视频，向家长展示如何实施一些做法。项目合作伙伴包括Abriendo Puertas，美国最大的为低收入拉丁裔提供服务的育儿项目，以及艾芬豪广播公司。研究问题包括：1)父母需要什么信息（以及他们可能接触到的错误信息）？2)分享什么？3)这在地理上有什么不同？4)在有电视台播放新闻视频的地区，与没有播放新闻视频的地区相比，研究人员能否发现公众参与度的差异？该项目将使用数据和传播科学研究策略（例如，从父母提问和分享信息的在线网站中进行自然语言处理）来告知视频的内容，并导致采用特征行为。来自网络搜索、Facebook公开页面和Twitter帖子的数据将被用来了解父母的主要问题和担忧，包括有关卫生的信息、如何在不吓唬孩子的情况下谈论大流行，或确定他们所听到和看到的与大流行有关的信息的真实性。这种有机的方法可以发现父母可能不太可能向医生询问或在焦点小组中讨论的问题。在方法上，研究人员将通过对父母提出的话题进行自然语言分析来实现这一目标；他们用来谈论特定内容的单词和短语；以及任何外部信息来源。在可能的情况下，研究人员将根据地理位置对这一分析进行分割，以查看在信息需求和话语方面是否存在地理差异。一份研究简报将分享与该领域有关如何利用地方电视新闻和加强跨背景信息应对COVID-19大流行等国家紧急情况的新知识。该奖项的研究结果将提供一个知识库，可用于今后更好地为应对国家紧急情况提供信息。通过研究简报广泛传播这些发现，该项目的创新研究将推动传播科学领域的发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This RAPID was submitted in response to the NSF Dear Colleague letter related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This award is made by the AISL program in the Division of Research on Learning, using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. COVID-19 presents a national threat to the health of children and families, presenting serious implications for the mental and physical health of children. Child development scientists have already warned of increasing stress levels among the U.S. child population, especially those in low-income families of color. In addition, Latino children are disproportionately impoverished, and benefit from culturally relevant information. Parents and caregivers need to be armed with effective science-based strategies to improve child prospects during this global crisis. Harnessing well-established partnerships—including with local TV news partners and parent-serving organizations—strengthens the potential for broad impacts on the health and well-being of children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic persists, widely disseminating accurate research-based strategies to support parents and families, with a focus on low-income Latino parents, is crucial to meeting the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable during this global crisis. The award addresses this urgent need by producing research-based news videos on child development for distribution on broadcast television stations that reach low income Latino parents. The videos will communicate research-based recommendations regarding COVID-19 in ways that are relatable to Latino parents and lead to positive parenting during this pandemic. A "how to" video will also be produced showing parents how to implement some of the practices. Project partners include Abriendo Puertas, the largest U.S. parenting program serving low-income Latinos, and Ivanhoe Broadcasting. Research questions include: 1) What information do parents need (and potentially what misinformation they are being exposed to)? 2) What are they sharing? 3) How does this vary geographically? 4) Can researchers detect differences in public engagement in geographic areas where TV stations air news videos as compared to areas that don’t? This project will use data and communication science research strategies (e.g. natural language processing from online sites where parents are asking questions and sharing information) to inform the content of the videos and lead to the adoption of featured behaviors. Data from web searches, public Facebook pages, and Twitter posts will be used to gain a window into parents’ main questions and concerns including information regarding hygiene, how to talk about the pandemic without frightening their children, or determining veracity of what they hear and see related to the pandemic. This organic approach can detect concerns that parents may be unlikely to ask doctors or discuss in focus groups. Methodologically, the researchers will accomplish this by natural language analysis of the topics that parents raise; the words and phrases they use to talk about specific content; and any references to external sources of information. Where possible, the researchers will segment this analysis by geography to see if there are geographical differences in information needs and discourse. A research brief will share new knowledge gained with the field on how to respond to national emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, using local TV news and reinforcement of messages across contexts. The findings from this award will provide a knowledge base that can be utilized to better inform responses to national emergencies in the future. By broadly disseminating these findings through a research brief, the project’s innovative research will advance the field of communication science.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.