Evaluation of caregiver supports for early literacy intervention

描述(由申请人提供)：这项工作的长期目标是检查向照顾者提供的理论知情的行为支持的计划变化的影响；当对患有语言障碍(LI)的儿童实施经验性验证的15周早期识字干预时，照顾者将获得这些支持。一种经验验证的干预措施，用于改善LI儿童的早期识字技能，并有可能 减少未来阅读障碍的风险，是坐在一起阅读(STAR)；STAR的特点是反复阅读故事书，成年人在书中嵌入与印刷相关的目标的明确引用。当由儿童照顾者实施时，患有LI的儿童在早期识字技能方面显示出显著的改善，这反过来可能会提高未来的阅读表现。然而，最近的研究表明，对于相当一部分照顾者来说，照顾者实施干预的两个“积极成分”--强度和剂量--是以期望的强度提供干预所必需的。通过应用四步法开发理论知情的行为改变干预措施，拟议的研究考察了四种行为改变技术(称为奖励、反馈、激励和鼓励)如何影响照顾者实施干预的强度和剂量，进而影响儿童的结果。为了达到这些目标，这项研究将涉及128名照顾者及其4岁和5岁的孩子，每个人在析因实验中被分配到16种不同条件中的一种。析因设计使我们有足够的能力来检测中等规模的效应，并测试特定的行为改变技术本身和在多种组合中。照顾者将实施为期15周的STAR干预，计划强度为60次(会议期间剂量约为6-8次明确的印刷参考)。研究结果将决定是否可以通过接触基于理论的行为改变技术来加强照顾者的实施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term objective of this work is to examine the impacts of planned variations of theory- informed behavioral supports provided to caregivers; caregivers receive these supports when implementing an empirically validated 15-week early-literacy intervention with their children with language impairment (LI). An empirically validated intervention for improving the early-literacy skills of children with LI, and potentially reducing risk for future reading disability, is Sit Together and Read (STAR); STAR features repeated reading of storybooks in which adults embed explicit references to print-related targets. When implemented by children's caregivers, children with LI show significant improvements in their early-literacy skills, which may in turn boost future reading performance. However, recent studies show that caregiver implementation of two 'active ingredients' of the intervention which are necessary for it to be delivered at the desired strength- intensity and dosage - is low for a substantial subset of caregivers. By applying a four-step approach to developing theory-informed behavior change interventions, the proposed study examines how four behavior-change techniques (referred to as Reward, Feedback, Motivate, and Encourage), delivered in isolation and in multiple combinations, may influence caregivers' implementation of the intervention with respect to intensity and dosage and, in turn, children's outcomes. To address these goals, the study will involve 128 caregivers and their 4- and 5-year- old children with LI, each assigned to one of16 different conditions within a factorial experiment. The factorial design allows us sufficient power to detect medium-sized effects and to test specific behavior-change techniques on their own and in multiple combinations. Caregivers will implement the 15-week STAR intervention at a planned intensity of 60 sessions (within-session dosage of about 6-8 explicit print references). Study results will determine whether caregivers' implementation can be enhanced via exposure to theoretically based behavior change techniques.