Evaluating the effectiveness of a ‘real-world’ shared reading intervention for preschool children and their families: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Shared reading interventions can impact positively on preschool children’s language development and on their caregiver’s attitudes/behaviours towards reading. However, a number of barriers may discourage families from engaging with these interventions, particularly families from lower socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds. We investigated how families from such backgrounds responded to an intervention designed explicitly to overcome these barriers. Methods: In a pre-registered cluster randomised controlled trial, 85 lower SES families and their 3- to 4-year old children from 10 different preschools were randomly allocated to take part in The Reader’s Shared Reading programme (intervention) or an existing ‘Story Time’ group at a library (control), once a week for eight weeks. Three outcome measures were assessed at baseline and post-intervention: (i) attendance, (ii) enjoyment of the reading groups, and (iii) caregivers’ knowledge of, attitudes and behaviours towards reading. A fourth, - children’s vocabulary - was assessed at baseline and four weeks post-intervention. Results: Families were significantly more likely to attend the intervention group and rated them more favourably, compared to the control group. However, there were no significant effects on caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours, or on children’s language. Conclusion: The intervention was only successful in engaging families from disadvantaged backgrounds in shared reading. Implications for the use, duration and intensity of shared reading interventions are discussed.

背景：共享阅读干预对学龄前儿童的语言发展及其照料者对阅读的态度和行为产生积极影响。然而，众多障碍可能抑制家庭参与此类干预，尤其是来自社会经济地位较低的家庭。本研究旨在探究此类背景下的家庭如何响应一项旨在克服这些障碍的专门设计干预。方法：在一项预先注册的集群随机对照试验中，85个来自10所不同幼儿园的社会经济地位较低的家庭及其3至4岁的儿童，被随机分配至参与《共读者的共享阅读》项目（干预组）或每周一次在图书馆参与现有的“故事时间”小组（对照组），持续八周。在基线和干预后，评估了三个结果指标：（一）参与度，（二）对阅读小组的满意度，（三）照料者对阅读的知识、态度和行为。第四个指标，即儿童词汇量，在基线和干预后四周进行评估。结果：与控制组相比，家庭更有可能参加干预组，并对干预组给予更高的评价。然而，在照料者的知识、态度和行为，或儿童的言语能力方面，并未发现显著的影响。结论：干预仅成功吸引了来自不利背景的家庭参与共享阅读。关于共享阅读干预的使用、持续时间和强度的影响进行了讨论。