An Exploration of Ready, Set, Share a Book! Intervention for Enhancing Parent Book Sharing with Infants and Toddlers

Access: Institutional Access

Publication year

2022

study description

RCT

core topic(s)

Shared Reading

Population Characteristics

Infant/Newborn , Toddler/Preschool

Exposures, Outcomes, Other

Home Visitation , Parent Behaviors and Skills , Parent-Child Relationships/Interactions , Programs and Interventions (other) , Ready, Set, Share a Book!

objectives

The current study examines gains in parent book-sharing skills during a brief, structured intervention.

exposure

Ready, Set, Share A Book! intervention

outcomes evaluated

Parent book-sharing skills

setting

Parents and their infant/toddler were recruited through Parents as Teachers (PAT). PAT offers home visits and center-based activities to provide parents with information about early development, learning and health, as well as developmental screenings and referrals for assessments.

methods

Parent–child dyads participated in an 8-week book-sharing intervention, Ready, Set, Share A Book!, designed for 12- to 36-month-old children. Parent book-sharing skills were assessed at baseline, weekly during the intervention, and at intervention end.

sample size

n=30 (parent-child dyads); n=15 (dyads, treatment); n=15 (dyads, control)

measures

Measure of Parent Book-Sharing Skills: Parents were asked to look at a book (Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury) with their child for 5 min. All book-sharing interactions were video-recorded and coded offline by trained observers for frequency of parent use of book-sharing skills. To examine parent skill acquisition, parent rates per minute of using each book-sharing skill demonstrated at baseline during the lab assessment were compared to rate of skill use at completion of the intervention.

results

Parents demonstrated significant gains in book-sharing skills from baseline to end of intervention, and results also indicate immediate skill gains in response to instruction. Furthermore, improvement in book-sharing skills at end of intervention was evident within the same book.

conclusions

The current study extends previous evidence for the benefit of a brief, low intensity, targeted intervention to enhance parent book-sharing interactions with infants and toddlers. Future directions for research and implications for practice are discussed.

limitations

However, some limitations should be considered, including the small sample size and limited diversity of the sample.