EFFICACY OF TWO EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS

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This research program is designed to complete the comparison of the relative effectiveness of two early intervention programs designed to prevent developmental retardation. Subjects are 63 high-risk children, currently 2 and 3 years old, who have been participating in the project since birth. The families were selected on the basis of a High-Risk Index which includes 13 weighted factors including maternal IQ, parents' education, and family income. The two prevention programs vary in intensity of treatment. One program uses Family Education delivered via home visits and group meetings and the other program uses Family Education Plus Developmental Daycare. Children were randomly assigned to these two programs or to an Educationally Untreated Control group. Evaluation of program effectiveness focuses on child progress, parent-child relationships and the environmental circumstances of high-risk families. Several specific research questions are being addressed by this longitudinal study. At a basic level, Project CARE is a direct comparison of two types of prevention strategies, both beginning in infancy, aimed at reducing the chances that the participants will show later developmental retardation. Another category of research concerns how early characteristics or experiences of high-risk infants influence later intellectual and social development. The project also focuses on the family changes that occur as children develop and is investigating some of the potential mechanisms through which developmental retardation may be prevented.