Health inequalities, social isolation, and family adversity impact a child's development. Play is the context for child development in all areas. A parent's ability to support children at play while being playful contributes to their psychological adjustment. The proposed tier 1, strengths-based educational program for parents of children aged 2 to 5 years with and without disabilities combines elements of a play-based approach and tips on effective parenting to support children's development by equipping parents with knowledge and empowering them to become change agents in their children's lives.
Parents will be recruited through a convenience sampling method to either an intervention group delivered online or a control waitlist group. Parents will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires online to assess the proposed programs effectiveness. Data analysis will explore between and within group differences in parental sense of competency, parental stress, child's behavior, and ability to support child's play. Qualitative data will be collected through online open-ended questions and sessions' transcript which will be analyzed to identify benefits. The project will produce tangible outcomes that will contribute to fostering the resilience of families with young children.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
Parents will participate in 2, 45 minute parent education sessions promoting playfulness through information about child development, parent stressors, and parent advocacy.
Little Eagles Learning Center
Fort Myers, Florida, United States
RECRUITINGParental Sense of Competence (PSOC-R)
The Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC-R) is a self-report measure that aims to assesses one's perceived efficacy and satisfaction with parenting. 16 items are scored on a scale of 1-6, 1 strongly disagree to 6 strongly agree.
Time frame: At the completion of two weeks
Parent/Caregiver's View of Supporting Children's Play and Playfulness
11 items scored on a scale of 0, not agree, to 2, strongly agree, to describe parent's perception of a child's play and joint play.
Time frame: At the completion of two weeks
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)
Parental self-report assessing a child's behavior, 25 items rated on a scale ranging from 0, not true, to 2, certainly true.
Time frame: At the completion of two weeks
Parent post program open-ended questions
A set of three open-ended questions about parents experience and takeaways after participation in the program. Can the participants tell the investigators about participant experience with group training? Why do the participants think it worked well and what did not work well for the participants? How do the participants perceive play time with your child/ren now? Has anything changed after the program?
Time frame: At the completion of two weeks
Parent pre program open-ended questions
A set of three questions regarding parent's expectations of the program. The investigators would like to learn more about your thoughts and experiences and will appreciate if the participants could answer the below questions What role does play have in children's development? Do the participants have a designated time that you play with your child? can the participants tell us about it. What do the participants expect to gain from these information sessions?
Time frame: At enrollment
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