In the Playful Learning in Infancy Program, parents receive research-based educational guidance on playful interactions with their infants aged 0-1 year. They learn to recognize their infants' cues indicating readiness to engage in play and they are introduced to specific, developmentally appropriate activities for interactive engagement. The guidance is delivered to parents during routine home visits by public health visitors. The aims of the Playful Learning in Infancy Program are to 1) promote playful interactions between infants and parents, parental attitudes towards play, and infant socioemotional development; 2) enhance the language and knowledge of playful learning in infancy among frontline staff; and 3) evaluate the Playful Learning in Infancy Program for potential testing in a future large-scale RCT study. Evaluation is based on a parallel group study design, with half of the participants receiving care as usual and half of the participants receiving care as usual along with the Playful Learning in Infancy Program.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
2,327
Research-based knowledge on play with babies delivered to the parents systematically by public health visitors based on a manual, activity cards, and video clips at four time points from 0 to 12 months postpartum.
In accordance with Danish national guidelines, health visitors visit families during the infants first year of life, where they weigh and measure the infant. Further, they offer individual guidance and support regarding for instance feeding, sleeping, how to stimulate the infant, and the developmental stages that the infant goes through.
Center for Early Interventions and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen
Copenhagen, Denmark
RECRUITINGParental Playful interactions
Playful interactions are assessed using The Parent Play Questionnaire (PPQ) by Ahmadzadeh et al. (2020), which assesses the frequency of parent-child play and screen use.
Time frame: T2 (infant age 3-3.5 months), T3 (infant age 7-7.5 months), and T4 (infant age 10-10.5 months)
Parental Stress
Maternal and paternal parenting stress is assessed via self-report using the Parenting Stress Index™, Third Edition Short Form (PSI-3-SF; Abidin, 1995).
Time frame: T3 (infant age 7-7.5 months)
Infant Socio-emotional Development
Infant socio-emotional development is assessed via parental report using the Ages \& Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2; Squires, Bricker, \& Twombly, 2015).
Time frame: T5 (infant age 11-11.5 months)
Infant Level of Play
We have developed questions for the parents to report on the child's level of play, based on Belsky, J., \& Most, R. K. (1981).
Time frame: T4 (infant age 10-10.5 months)
Parental Mind-Mindedness
Parental mind-mindedness is assessed using a written response to the first question from the "Describe your child" interview (Meins et al., 1998). Mind-mindedness is coded according to the criteria specified in the mind-mindedness coding manual (Meins \& Fernyhough, 2015).
Time frame: T5 (infant age 11-11.5 months)
Parental Attachment Style
Parents' attachment style is assessed using the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised-Short Form (ECR-RS) questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000).
Time frame: T1/Enrollment (4 weeks - 8 months)
Parental Mental Well-Being
Parental mental well-being is assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale - (S)WEMWBS (Tennant et al., 2007).
Time frame: T1/Enrollment (4 weeks - 8 months) and T5 (infant age 11-11.5 months)
Infant Screen Time
The infant's screen time is assessed using quantitative questions developed for the project and administered to parents.
Time frame: T2 (infant age 3-3.5 months), T3 (infant age 7-7.5 months), and T4 (infant age 10-10.5 months)
Questions developed for the study regarding Parental Involvement
Questions developed for the study regarding the parent's involvement in the child's life and daily activities.
Time frame: T2 (infant age 3-3.5 months), T3 (infant age 7-7.5 months), and T4 (infant age 10-10.5 months)
Questions developed for the study regarding Parental Knowledge of Play
Questions developed for the study for parents in the intervention group regarding knowledge of play.
Time frame: T2 (infant age 3-3.5 months), T3 (infant age 7-7.5 months), and T4 (infant age 10-10.5 months)
Parental Experience of the PLIP
Qualitative interviews with a subsample of parents.
Time frame: Immediately after the intervention
Health Visitors' Experience of the PLIP
Qualitative interviews with a subsample of health visitors.
Time frame: Immediately after the intervention
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