None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Late talkers are children who show a later onset and slower progression of expressive language than their peers. Although late talking is prevalent in populations of young children, many do not receive early support. Some parent-directed interventions have been specifically created to increase child language skills. In these language-specific interventions, like Dialogic Reading, parents are trained in targeted strategies and techniques to scaffold their children’s language development. Other parent-directed interventions, like Group Triple P, have been designed to improve family functioning, child behaviour, and child development more generally. There is great potential for Group Triple P, which takes a broad-based approach, to also scaffold language learning and improve these outcomes for late-talking toddlers, but at present, studies have tested the intervention’s effectiveness in the language domain. This trial will randomize parents of late-talking 2- to 3-year-old children to either Group Triple P or Dialogic Reading interventions lasting 8 weeks, or a waitlist control group. Primary language outcomes will be assessed at baseline, post-test, and 3-month follow up. Other outcomes include parent-reported child behaviour and parenting style. All interventions and testing will be completed online. The Group Triple P program is disseminated globally by Triple P International, based in Brisbane, Australia (Triple P-Positive Parenting Program). Should this trial demonstrate effectiveness of the program in increasing expressive language performance, this established program can be readily repurposed to meet the needs late-talking toddlers, and their families, in the community. We anticipate that when parents participate in either intervention (Group Triple P or Dialogic Reading) children will have better language outcomes than those who receive no intervention in the same time period (those in the waitlist control group). We also hypothesize that children whose parents receive Group Triple P will show greater improvements in behaviour than those in the Dialogic Reading and waitlist control group.
Interventions
This study has two intervention arms, both parent-directed programs - Group Triple P and Dialogic Reading. Both interventions will be delivered online (via Zoom) in weekly sessions over 8 weeks. The total contact time of the intervention is approximately 660 minutes. In both arms, parents will receive the intervention training in groups of no more than 12.
Arm 1 (Group Triple P): Parents receive training in the key strategies of Triple P. The program is broad-based in its approach and covers t
This study has two intervention arms, both parent-directed programs - Group Triple P and Dialogic Reading. Both interventions will be delivered online (via Zoom) in weekly sessions over 8 weeks. The total contact time of the intervention is approximately 660 minutes. In both arms, parents will receive the intervention training in groups of no more than 12. Arm 1 (Group Triple P): Parents receive training in the key strategies of Triple P. The program is broad-based in its approach and covers topics such as positive parenting, helping children develop, and managing misbehaviour. The program includes role-play scenarios to build skills, homework tasks, and 3 brief individual sessions to troubleshoot parent challenges. Sessions 1-4 and Session 8 will be group sessions of approximately 120 minutes. Brief (15-30 minute) individual meetings comprise Sessions 5-7. Parents will receive a Group Triple P workbook by mail. These workbooks are available from Triple P International (https://www.triplep.net/glo-en/home/). While session attendance will be monitored, engagement with the workbook will not be monitored or enforced. The intervention sessions will be delivered by the Lead Investigator, Melinda McBryde, who has received the required Triple P training. Arm 2 (Dialogic Reading): Parents receive training in how to use books as a tool for encouraging child speech and for building early language skills. Dialogic Reading interventions are language-focused and have been used extensively in research as well as community settings. This iteration of the program has been designed to complement the Group Triple P in terms of structure and will take place over 8 weeks in groups of no more than 12 participants. The total contact hours between the interventionist and participant (providing all sessions are attended) is approximately 660 hours. This Dialogic Reading intervention will include group information and practice sessions (Sessions 1-4, Session 8) and 3 brief individual sessions (Sessions 5-7) to troubleshoot parent challenges in implementing the strategies taught. Parents will receive 2 picture books, by mail, that will be used in the online group sessions. They will also be mailed some notes referencing the key Dialogic Reading strategies and tips for implementing them with success (these notes will be developed for this intervention and will be available in the appendices of any publications stemming from this study). The Lead Investigator, Melinda McBryde, will also be responsible for delivering the Dialogic Reading intervention.
Sponsors
University of Queensland
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
24 Months to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Parents with children who are between 24 and 36 months at the commencement of the intervention sessions and screen at or below the 20th percentile relative to age-matched peers on MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories Short Form (measure of expressive vocabulary). Parents must be willing to attend weekly, online intervention sessions for 8 weeks and have an electronic device with webcam capabilities (e.g., laptop).
Exclusion criteria
Those excluded will be parents with children who: (1) are from a bilingual/multilingual household; (2) have abnormal hearing, or physical or intellectual disabilities; (3) have a suspected or confirmed Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis; (5) were born preterm (<37 weeks' gestation); or, (6) are currently or have in the past received professional intervention language delay.
Outcome results
None listed