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 Dear Colleague关于COVID-19大流行病的信函而提交的。该奖项是由AISL计划在学习研究部，使用冠状病毒援助，救济和经济安全（关怀）法案的资金。 COVID-19对儿童和家庭的健康构成全国性威胁，对儿童的身心健康造成严重影响。 儿童发展科学家已经警告说，美国儿童的压力水平正在上升，特别是那些低收入的有色人种家庭。此外，拉丁裔儿童不成比例地贫困，并受益于文化相关的信息。父母和照顾者需要配备有效的科学战略，以改善儿童在这场全球危机中的前景。利用良好的伙伴关系-包括与当地电视新闻合作伙伴和家长服务组织-加强了在COVID-19大流行期间对儿童和家庭的健康和福祉产生广泛影响的潜力。随着这一流行病的持续存在，广泛传播基于研究的支持父母和家庭的准确战略，重点是低收入的拉丁美洲父母，对于在这场全球危机中满足国家最脆弱群体的需求至关重要。该奖项通过制作关于儿童发展的基于研究的新闻视频，在广播电视台上分发，以满足低收入拉丁美洲父母的迫切需要。这些视频将以与拉丁裔父母相关的方式传达基于研究的关于COVID-19的建议，并在这场大流行期间带来积极的育儿方式。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，这是美国最大的为低收入拉丁美洲人服务的育儿计划，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什么错误信息）？2)他们在分享什么？3)这在地理上是如何变化的？4)研究人员能否发现电视台播放新闻视频的地区与不播放新闻视频的地区在公众参与方面的差异？该项目将使用数据和传播科学研究策略（例如，来自父母提问和分享信息的在线网站的自然语言处理）来告知视频的内容，并导致采用特色行为。来自网络搜索、公共Facebook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，如何在不吓到孩子的情况下谈论流行病，或确定他们听到和看到的与流行病有关的内容的真实性。这种有机的方法可以发现父母可能不太可能询问医生或在焦点小组中讨论的问题。 从方法上讲，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;以及对外部信息来源的任何引用。在可能的情况下，研究人员将按地理位置对这一分析进行细分，以确定信息需求和话语是否存在地理差异。 一份研究简报将分享在实地获得的关于如何应对国家紧急情况的新知识，如COVID-19大流行，利用当地电视新闻和跨背景强化信息。该奖项的研究结果将提供一个知识库，可用于更好地为今后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通信科学领域的发展。该奖项反映了NSF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.