Child Development Clinical Trial
Official title:
Using Structured Video Chat to Improve Relationships Between Young Children and Remote Grandparents
During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic many families are using video chat (e.g., Zoom) to maintain relationships with distant relatives, including grandparents. While 67% of all grandparents reported liking the idea of video chatting with their grandchildren, only 28% did so regularly. Increasing this percentage could significantly improve grandparent-grandchild relationships because the Preliminary Study 1 showed that video chat frequency is a strong predictor of grandparent's ratings of closeness to their grandchild, even after controlling for the geographic distance between them. The overall goal of the past, ongoing, and future research is to understand the cognitive and social developmental challenges of video chat in order to support its use with children. As the next step towards this goal, the investigators propose to directly compare two approaches to instructing grandparents on how to improve video chats between grandparents and young grandchildren (18-72 months of age). Families will use video chat without the involvement of researchers during each video chat. Parent-child- grandparent triads (n=180; the largest multi-session observational study of young children and video chat to date) will record 10 video chats under one of three randomly-assigned conditions: structured play, structured reading, or when given no instructions (control). The overall hypothesis is that structured video chat will increase children's engagement and joint attention (primary outcome measures), as well as grandparents' enjoyment of video chat and closeness with their grandchild (secondary outcome measures). The investigators will use detailed behavioral coding of the video recordings of these chats to objectively assess many of the outcome measures. The Preliminary Study 2 showed that structured video chat facilitates more positive social interactions. The proposed work extends the preliminary work because it translates laboratory methods to a complementary ecologically-valid approach in families' naturalistic environments. In Aim 1, the investigators will determine whether and for whom structured video chat improves child engagement and increases child-initiated screen- based joint attention during video chats between grandparents and grandchildren. In Aim 2, the investigators will determine whether structured video chat increases grandparents' enjoyment of the video chats and leads to greater feelings of closeness to their grandchild. Both principal investigators, who are at R15-eligible institutions, are well-qualified to complete the proposed work. Since 2017, they have published 9 papers on video chat, 12 papers on reading, and collaboratively completed 3 preliminary studies and 2 papers. They have mentored 77 undergraduate students, many of whom were co-authors on conference posters or presentations (37 students in total; 22 as a presenter) or journal articles. Importantly, 17 students came from underrepresented groups (BIPOC, first- generation in college, LGBT). A total of 47 are pursuing or have completed graduate work in health-related sciences, including 15 for doctoral degrees. The proposed work addresses a National Institute for Child Health & Development, Child Development and Behavior Branch's (CDBB) priority of advancing understanding of "Effects of Technology and Digital Media Use on Child and Adolescent Development."
Status | Recruiting |
Enrollment | 540 |
Est. completion date | September 1, 2025 |
Est. primary completion date | September 1, 2025 |
Accepts healthy volunteers | Accepts Healthy Volunteers |
Gender | All |
Age group | 18 Months to 5 Years |
Eligibility | Inclusion Criteria: - have a child between the ages of 18 months and 5 years - all parties speak English - stable internet connection for all parties - access to laptop, smart phone or tablet that can be used for Zoom interactions - be able to hear to communicate effectively with partners in Zoom interactions - see the screen well enough to communicate effectively on Zoom Exclusion Criteria: - does not meet any of the inclusion criteria |
Country | Name | City | State |
---|---|---|---|
United States | Lafayette College | Easton | Pennsylvania |
Lead Sponsor | Collaborator |
---|---|
Lafayette College | University of South Dakota |
United States,
Type | Measure | Description | Time frame | Safety issue |
---|---|---|---|---|
Primary | Child engagement | Frequency of the number of occurrences of smiles, nods, & on-topic verbalizations. To be measured by observing recordings of behavior. | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Primary | Child initiation of within-screen joint attention | Frequency of child's references to something in their own environment, paired with a look to the grandparent. e.g., child brings a toy to show grandparent. To be measured by observing recordings of behavior. | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Primary | Child initiation of across-screen joint attention | Frequency of child's direction of the grandparent's attention to an object or person on the other side of the screen, paired with a look to the grandparent. e.g., child points to her grandmother's dog. To be measured by observing recordings of behavior. | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Primary | Grandparent Sensitivity | Time-sampled in intervals of 30-seconds (coder gives a score for the sensitivity of each adult, based on that 30- second interval as one unit). Grandparent's accuracy in reading child signals, appropriate responsiveness to such signals, adult affect, awareness of timing, and flexibility to child's needs in the moment. Sensitivity will be coded following previously published criteria and will be a global rating that "emphasizes behavioral style rather than discrete behaviors" and accounts for the dyadic nature of sensitivity (child's needs affect parent's responses, and vice versa). To be measured by observing recordings of behavior. | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Primary | Parental Involvement | Frequency and duration of instances when the parent supports the child to engage with the grandparent, e.g., offers help. To be measured by observing recordings of behavior. | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Secondary | Grandparent enjoyment | Grandparents will be asked to self-report their enjoyment of the video chat on an Enjoyment scale, rated from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) | Through study completion, an average of 2 months | |
Secondary | Grandparent closeness | Grandparents will be asked to self-report their their closeness to the child on a Closeness scale, rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) | Through study completion, an average of 2 months |
Status | Clinical Trial | Phase | |
---|---|---|---|
Completed |
NCT06315036 -
Effects of Developmental Gymnastics on Preschoolers' Motor Skills
|
N/A | |
Active, not recruiting |
NCT05143294 -
Conectar Jugando: Board Games in Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Functions
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT05267730 -
Conectar Jugando: Board Games in Rural Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Functions
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT03680157 -
Comparing Rater Reliability of Familiar Practitioners to Blinded Coders
|
||
Completed |
NCT00362076 -
The Role of Motion in Infants' Ability to Categorize
|
N/A | |
Recruiting |
NCT05525962 -
Vulnerability/Resilience Factors Influencing the Developmental Trajectories and Adaptive Methods of Children and Adolescents in Child Welfare System.
|
||
Completed |
NCT03232606 -
Physical Activity of Asthmatic Children
|
||
Completed |
NCT05955755 -
The Effect of Butterfly Vacuum Blood Collection Set and Standard Vacutanier Needle on the Level of Pain and Fear
|
N/A | |
Recruiting |
NCT04443855 -
WASH Benefits Child Development Follow up
|
N/A | |
Not yet recruiting |
NCT06335524 -
Infant-Maternal Partnership and Cognitive Training Study for Preterm Infants
|
N/A | |
Not yet recruiting |
NCT05783141 -
Prebiotic Effects in Healthy Toddlers
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT02539251 -
Arabic Ages and Stages Questionnaire-III
|
||
Completed |
NCT02800616 -
The Healthy Elementary School of the Future
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT02451059 -
Reducing Socioeconomic Disparities in Health at Pediatric Visits
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT02242539 -
Tools to Improve Parental Recognition of Developmental Deficits in Children
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT03010306 -
CASITA Intervention for Children at Risk of Delay in Carabayllo, Peru
|
N/A | |
Completed |
NCT01683565 -
Preemie Tots: A Pilot Study to Understand the Effects of Prematurity in Toddlerhood
|
Phase 4 | |
Completed |
NCT00989859 -
Photo-Plethysmographic Camera to Monitor Heart Rate, Respiration Rate and Oxygen Saturation in Infants
|
||
Recruiting |
NCT00980733 -
Efficacy of Micronutrient Fortified Yoghurt in School Children for Health Benefits
|
Phase 3 | |
Terminated |
NCT04347707 -
Building Regulation in Dual Generations
|
N/A |