The impact of interactive book sharing on child cognitive and socio-cognitive development (the REaL trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Current controlled trials in cardiovascular medicine 2022-09, Vol.23 (1), p.802-13, Article 802
• Main Authors: Forssman, Linda, Gottwald, Janna M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Books and reading; Caregivers; Child Development; Children & youth; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition in children; Cognitive development; Demographic aspects; Evaluation; Executive Function; Home environment; Humans; Hypotheses; Infant; International standards; Intervention; Language; Language development; Literacy; Meta-analysis; Parent intervention; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parents & parenting; Parents - psychology; Psychological aspects; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Reading instruction; Social aspects; Socio-cognitive development; Study Protocol; Vocabulary development
• ISSN: 1745-6215; 1745-6215
• DOI: 10.1186/s13063-022-06733-8

The quality of children's early home learning environment has an influence on their cognitive development, preliteracy skills, and subsequent educational outcomes. Early intervention programs that promote positive parenting behaviors and child cognition have great potential to positively influence children's school readiness and thereby support social equality. One often advocated parental practice for promoting child language and cognition is interactive book sharing. We have conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a parent-child interactive book sharing intervention on early child language, cognition, and parental behaviors. Participating caregivers and their 10-month-old child were randomized to an interactive book sharing intervention group (n = 59) or to an active control group (n = 56). The intervention was delivered by a facilitator to small groups of parent-child dyads on a weekly basis over 5 weeks. The primary outcomes were child language and socio-cognition; secondary outcomes were child executive function and parental scaffolding, sensitivity and reciprocity during book sharing, and problem-solving tasks. Data were collected at baseline, post-intervention, and at 6 and 12 months post-intervention. The Roadmap to Executive function and Language (REaL) trial aims to evaluate the impact of a brief early parenting intervention on key factors for child development, including child cognition and parental behaviors. If this intervention is beneficial for child outcomes, that would be of significance for the development of early interventions to promote child development. The REaL trial is registered on the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number database, registration number ISRCTN22319305. Retrospectively registered on 7 February 2020.