In 2017, study 1 was carried out, exploring the expectations and experiences of parents from disadvantaged areas attending parent-child interaction programmes. Ten parents were recruited to participate in face-to-face interviews conducted in the home. Interviews were then transcribed and data analysed. A manuscript reporting these study findings, Levickis et al, has been submitted to IJLCD.
Study 2 tested the feasibility of training child health nurses to use the observational rating scale, PaRRiS (Parental Responsiveness Rating Scale), to identify families most likely to benefit from parent-focused interventions. Five child health nurses were recruited and trained to use PaRRiS. Nurses then conducted ratings of parent-child interactions (n=30) during routine 27 month child health visits. The researcher then rated video recordings of the interactions to determine reliability. Phone interviews were conducted with nurses to get feedback on the training and implementation of PaRRiS. A manuscript reporting findings is in preparation for submission to the European Journal of Public Health. Findings from studies 1 and 2 were presented at 8 international conferences, including language specific and public health conferences, in 2017 and 2018.
The fellow hosted a parent-child interaction stakeholders meeting, September 5th, 2018 at Newcastle University and invited health and educational professionals with a focus on the early years to attend. The fellow presented study 1 and 2 findings and the meeting provided an opportunity for stakeholders to put forward their perspectives in light of these research findings and to explore new and innovative ways of promoting quality parent-child interaction to enhance early language development that can be realistically achieved. The best methods for dissemination of study findings to practitioners and families was also discussed. Research findings will be disseminated to practitioners in the form of research snapshots.
The fellow’s supervisor has been leading a COST Action focusing on interventions for children with language impairment across Europe. To address the third project objective and examine practices around promoting parent-child interaction across Europe, the fellow included questions related to parent-child interaction programmes in the COST Action practitioner survey. The fellow collaborated with COST members to submit a manuscript for publication to the Journal of Communication Disorders.
Findings from study 1 showed that parents’ understanding of child language development and difficulties and their own expectations of intervention, as well as their role within it need to be considered. Engagement of parents in parent-child interaction programmes can contribute not only to the effectiveness of intervention, but also to the parents’ capability to act as ‘agent of change’ for their child’s language learning. In addition, cultural diversity needs to be considered as these families may have very different expectations and may place different cultural values on the importance of parent-child interaction.
Findings from study 2 showed that it is possible to train child health nurses to reliably measure parental responsiveness using PaRRiS during a brief 5 minute free-play observation. Findings also showed that in this sample, whereby half the sample of families were from the 10% most deprived UK areas, there was no evidence of a relationship between social disadvantage and PaRRiS ratings. Thus, while there is an association between social disadvantage and poorer quality parent-child interaction, targeting only socially disadvantaged families with parent-child interaction interventions will not necessarily reduce inequalities.
In study 3 the fellow and co-authors used COST Action IS1406 survey data to explore from an international perspective working with parents and families of children with developmental language disorders. In total, 4024 practitioners responded from 60 countries, the majority from EU member countries. Key findings: speech and language therapy practices need to be explored across cultural contexts; the importance of indirect therapy via parents is recognised internationally; and there is a need to better understand what practitioners are doing when they work via parents.
Regarding career development, the researcher has established and strengthened networks with researchers from the UK and across Europe. She received training in qualitative analysis in health research. Working with the COST Action group, she gained knowledge of cross-cultural differences and similarities of parent-child interaction across Europe and is currently co-authoring a paper with this group on this topic. She greatly strengthened her content knowledge and developed her skill-set in engaging and working with health service providers (such as speech and language therapists) and service users (i.e. parents and children).
