Early years provision in children's centres
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN28513611 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN28513611 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | EYP/42798 |
- Submission date
- 25/03/2017
- Registration date
- 28/03/2017
- Last edited
- 24/08/2018
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Children from low-income backgrounds often show lower levels of school readiness than their peers, causing them to be more likely to have school difficulties. As school preparedness is a predictor of academic success, differences in family’s social and economic backgrounds can impact the home learning environment. Children’s Centres are designed to help address these problems, and can serve disadvantaged areas. They help provide care for children as well as promote parenting skills. One parenting skill that is beneficial to a child’s development is called “dialogic book-sharing”. This is where a parent shares a picture book with a child in a way that engages the child in a two-way fluid conversation”. Research has shown that disadvantaged parents are less likely to share books with their children than other families. However, it is possible to train parents in good book-sharing practices. These methods help improve parenting and improve children’s language, attention and social behaviour. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a book-sharing programme on parenting and child development.
Who can participate?
Children and parents aged 26-42 months old who visit Children’s Centres in Reading.
What does the study involve?
Participating families are randomly allocated to one of two groups. Families in the first group receive training in a programme of dialogic reading. This is delivered at one hour group sessions for seven weeks. The programme involves a facilitator showing parents how to support their child's interest in picture books and engage their child in a conversation about the book. Those in the second group do not receive any extra activities. All families are assessed prior to the programme, immediately after the programme and again six months after the intervention to assess the effect of the intervention on child language, attention, and social understanding, and also to assess its impact on parenting.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participants are likely to benefit in terms of improvements in child language skills and social understanding. There are no notable risks associated with participating.
Where is the study run from?
This study is being run by the University of Reading (UK) and takes place in Children's Centres in Reading (UK).
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
March 2017 to September 2017
Who is funding the study?
Nuffield Foundation (UK)
Who is the main contact?
1. Professor Lynne Murray
lynne.murray@rdg.ac.uk
2. Dr Susie Jennings
s.e.jennings@reading.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences
The University of Reading
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6AL
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)118 378 6302 |
|---|---|
| lynne.murray@rdg.ac.uk |
Public
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences
The University of Reading
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6AL
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)118 378 8523 |
|---|---|
| s.e.jennings@rdg.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Cluster randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details provided to request a patient information sheet |
| Scientific title | The impact of a dialogic book-sharing training programme on child cognitive and socio-emotional development: a randomised controlled trial within UK Children's Centres |
| Study acronym | EPICC |
| Study hypothesis | Compared to the control group, children of parents who have received the intervention will show greater gains in cognitive and socio-emotional functioning and the parents themselves will show benefits in their parenting. |
| Ethics approval(s) | University of Reading Research Ethics Committee, 07/02/2017, ref: 17/09 |
| Condition | Child cognitive and socio-emotional development |
| Intervention | Families are randomly allocated to being either in the control clusters or the intervention clusters. Randomisation is done using minimisation on the basis of an index of deprivation (i.e. the Index of Multiple Deprivation) and ethnic distribution. Intervention (index clusters): These clusters receive a manualised training programme of dialogic reading/book sharing. This involves a facilitator showing parents how to support their child's interest in picture books and engage their child in an active two-way conversation about the book. The programme is delivered to small groups of parents (around five to seven) at one hour long weekly meetings over seven weeks. Control clusters: Families attending control Children’s Centres receive no extra activities and continue receiving the normal Centre service. Families in control clusters are compared to those in the index clusters. Both groups take part in assessments at baseline, after the seven week intervention phase, and then again at a six month follow up. Participants are asked not to discuss the intervention with assessors or other families not receiving the intervention, until after the study. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | 1. Child Language and Executive Function Child is assessed using the Early Years Toolbox and the Communication Development Inventory at baseline, following the intervention phase, and at six month follow-up 2. Child attention is assessed using the Early Child Vigilance Task and observational analysis of play at baseline, following the intervention phase, and at six month follow-up |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Child Prosocial/Externalising Behaviour is assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and direct observation during the parent-child ‘Don’t touch’ and ‘Clean Up’ tasks at baseline, following the intervention phase, and at six month follow-up 2. Child Theory of Mind is assessed using Wellman and Liu tasks at baseline, following the intervention phase and at six month follow-up 3. Child Emotional Reactivity and regulation is assessed using the Distress-Anger/Frustration component of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery at baseline, following the intervention phase, and at six month follow-up 4. Parenting is assessed via observational coding of book-sharing skills and discipline during the parent-child ‘Don’t touch’ and ‘Clean Up’ tasks, and by self-report discipline questionnaire at baseline, following the intervention phase, and at six month follow-up |
| Overall study start date | 01/01/2017 |
| Overall study end date | 31/12/2018 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 26 Months |
| Upper age limit | 42 Months |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 214 child-parent pairs |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Family of a 26-42 month old child 2. Regularly visits a Children's Centre in Reading 3. Lives in a home where English is spoken |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. Child outside the age range at time of baseline assessment 2. English not spoken in the home 3. Disability in parent or child likely to interfere with delivery of the intervention |
| Recruitment start date | 29/03/2017 |
| Recruitment end date | 29/09/2017 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centres
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6AL
United Kingdom
Reading
RG1 5SG
United Kingdom
Reading
RG1 3HF
United Kingdom
Reading
RG2 0BN
United Kingdom
Caversham
Reading
RG4 5NA
United Kingdom
Reading
RG2 7QA
United Kingdom
Reading
RG2 7NT
United Kingdom
Reading
RG30 4ED
United Kingdom
Reading
RG1 2LU
United Kingdom
Reading
RG30 6UB
United Kingdom
Reading
RG30 3QP
United Kingdom
Reading
RG1 6DW
United Kingdom
School Road
Tilehurst
RG31 5AS
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
University/education
Whiteknights
Reading
RG6 6UA
England
United Kingdom
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/05v62cm79 |
|---|
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 31/12/2019 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Planned publication in major peer reviewed journals and in relevant professional journals. A summary of the project's objectives, methodologies and key findings, together with recommendations for policy and practice will appear on the University of Reading website. A briefing paper for distribution to the Department of Education (specifically the Minister for Children and their policy team), the Local Government Association, Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities and the European Social network, as well as a range of early year associations/NGOs (i.e. PEEP, Save the Children, Barnardo's Action for Children, NCB) and the media will be prepared. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a publically available repository University of Reading Research Data Archive (http://researchdata.reading.ac.uk) to be made available one year after the completion of the study. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol article | protocol | 22/08/2018 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
24/08/2018: Publication reference added.
15/08/2017: The target number of participants was changed from 300 to 214 child-parent pairs.
