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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Apr;54(2):523-38.
doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2010/09-0151). Epub 2010 Aug 18.

Feasibility, efficacy, and social validity of home-based storybook reading intervention for children with language impairment

Laura M Justice  1 , Lori E Skibbe, Anita S McGinty, Shayne B Piasta, Stephen Petrill
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Feasibility, efficacy, and social validity of home-based storybook reading intervention for children with language impairment

Laura M Justice et al. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2011 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated the feasibility, efficacy, and social validity of a parent-implemented intervention for promoting print knowledge in preschoolers with language impairment.

Method: This trial involved 62 children and their parents. Each dyad completed a 12-week intervention program. Parents in the treatment group implemented print-focused reading sessions; parents in two comparison groups implemented sessions focused on either storybook pictures (picture-focused condition) or phonological concepts (sound-focused condition).

Results: Many parents completed the program successfully, but attrition was high; 23% of families dropped out of the program. Children who remained in the treatment group demonstrated significantly greater gains on 1 of 2 measures of print knowledge compared with those in the picture-focused condition but not the sound-focused condition. Parents generally reported favorable impressions of the program, although several aspects of the program received higher ratings from parents in the print-focused group.

Conclusion: Study results raise questions about the feasibility of home-based intervention for some families; future research that examines the characteristics of families that may affect completion are needed. The causal effects of print-focused reading sessions are promising for addressing children's print-concept knowledge but not alphabet knowledge. Home-based reading intervention has considerable social validity as a therapeutic approach.

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