Early- and Later-Emerging Benefits of a Preschool Home Visiting Program

Introduction

The REDI-Parent program was developed to enrich home visits for Head Start parents, improve support for learning at home, and boost academic and social-emotional school readiness for children in poverty. The REDI-Parent program extended the REDI-classroom program, including interactive reading, literacy-based play and learning games, and coaching in caregiving behaviors associated with children’s learning and self-control. At kindergarten post-intervention assessment, children who received enriched home visiting showed significantly better literacy skills, academic adjustment, and social competence than the control group. Initial benefits were evident primarily in the school setting; few significant improvements were observed in parenting. This study used latent class growth curve analyses to model parenting stress and parent-reported child behavior problems across elementary years to examine emergent effects and whether sub-groups differentially benefitted from the intervention.

Method

200 low-income families with prekindergarten children (55% White,26% Black,19% Latino;56% male;M_age=4.45 years) were recruited from 24 Head Start centers. Families were randomly assigned to receive the REDI-P program (intervention,N=95) or an alternative attention-control condition consisting of mail-home activities (control,N=105). Measures of parenting stress and child behavior problems at home were collected at pre-intervention (preschool) and for four years post-intervention (kindergarten, grades 1,2,3).

Results

Latent class growth models revealed optimal fit statistics for two-class models of parenting stress and child behavior problems. Intervention produced significant declines in parenting stress for families in the lower stress class (N=120, intercept-.24, p<.001, slope-.16, p<.05), but no significant benefits for families in the higher stress class (N=72). Similarly, intervention produced significant declines in child behavior problems in the lower problem class (N=147, intercept-2.14, p<.004, slope-.62, p<.05) but no significant benefits for children in the higher problem class (N=47). Additional analyses are planned to better understand predictors of class membership to illuminate these findings.

Discussion

Head Start families have elevated risk for adjustment difficulties due to adversities associated with poverty. By providing learning activities and encouraging parents to actively support children at home, the REDI-Parent intervention improved children’s school functioning. The present results show the intervention had longer term benefits for some families, including fewer child problems at home and reduced parenting stress. However, families experiencing high levels of child behavior problems and parenting stress did not benefit from this approach. They may need an alternative approach to address the behavioral challenges and high parenting stress they experience. The discussion will reflect on the possibility that tailored approaches may be needed for family-focused school readiness programs.