The Sign 4 Big Feelings intervention to improve early years outcomes in preschool children: Outcome evaluation (Preprint)

Background Gaining age-appropriate proficiency in speech and language in the early years is crucial to later life chances; however, a significant proportion of children fail to meet the expected standards in these early years outcomes when they start school. Factors influencing the development of language and communication include low income, gender, and having English as an additional language (EAL). Objective This study aimed to determine whether the Sign 4 Little Talkers (S4LT) program improves key developmental outcomes in hearing preschool children. S4LT was developed to address gaps in the attainment of vocabulary and communication skills in preschool children, identified through routine monitoring of outcomes in early years. Signs were adapted and incorporated into storybooks to improve vocabulary, communication, and behavior in hearing children. Methods An evaluation of S4LT was conducted to measure key outcomes pre- and postintervention in 8 early years settings in Luton, United Kingdom. A total of 118 preschool children were tested in 4 early years outcomes domains—listening, speaking, understanding, and managing feelings and behavior—as well as Leuven well-being scales and the number of key words understood and spoken. Results Statistically significant results were found for all measures tested: words spoken (P<.001) and understood (P<.001), speaking (P<.001), managing feelings and behavior (P<.001), understanding (P<.001), listening and attention (P<.001), and well-being (P<.001). Approximately two-thirds of the children made expected or good progress, often progressing multiple steps in educational attainment after being assessed as developmentally behind at baseline. Conclusions The findings reported here suggest that S4LT may help children to catch up with their peers at a crucial stage in development and become school ready by improving their command of language and communication as well as learning social skills. Our analysis also highlights specific groups of children who are not responding as well as expected, namely boys with EAL, and who require additional, tailored support.

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The Sign 4 Little Talkers Intervention to Improve Listening, Understanding, Speaking, and Behavior in Hearing Preschool Children: Outcome Evaluation (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.15348 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Rosemary Davidson ◽

Gurch Randhawa

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

Low Income ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Outcome Evaluation ◽

Early Years ◽

School Factors ◽

Language And Communication ◽

And Behavior

BACKGROUND Gaining age-appropriate proficiency in speech and language in the early years is crucial to later life chances; however, a significant proportion of children fail to meet the expected standards in these early years outcomes when they start school. Factors influencing the development of language and communication include low income, gender, and having English as an additional language (EAL). OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine whether the Sign 4 Little Talkers (S4LT) program improves key developmental outcomes in hearing preschool children. S4LT was developed to address gaps in the attainment of vocabulary and communication skills in preschool children, identified through routine monitoring of outcomes in early years. Signs were adapted and incorporated into storybooks to improve vocabulary, communication, and behavior in hearing children. METHODS An evaluation of S4LT was conducted to measure key outcomes pre- and postintervention in 8 early years settings in Luton, United Kingdom. A total of 118 preschool children were tested in 4 early years outcomes domains—listening, speaking, understanding, and managing feelings and behavior—as well as Leuven well-being scales and the number of key words understood and spoken. RESULTS Statistically significant results were found for all measures tested: words spoken (P<.001) and understood (P<.001), speaking (P<.001), managing feelings and behavior (P<.001), understanding (P<.001), listening and attention (P<.001), and well-being (P<.001). Approximately two-thirds of the children made expected or good progress, often progressing multiple steps in educational attainment after being assessed as developmentally behind at baseline. CONCLUSIONS The findings reported here suggest that S4LT may help children to catch up with their peers at a crucial stage in development and become school ready by improving their command of language and communication as well as learning social skills. Our analysis also highlights specific groups of children who are not responding as well as expected, namely boys with EAL, and who require additional, tailored support.

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The Sign 4 Big Feelings intervention to improve early years outcomes in preschool children: Outcome evaluation (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25086 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rosemary Davidson ◽

Gurch Randhawa

Keyword(s):

Economic Status ◽

Well Being ◽

Outcome Evaluation ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Early Years ◽

Children’S Wellbeing ◽

Preschool Age Children ◽

Measuring Change ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Clinically Significant

BACKGROUND Any delays in language development may affect learning, profoundly influencing personal, social, and professional trajectories. The effectiveness of the Sign 4 Big Feelings (S4BF) intervention was investigated by measuring change in early years outcomes after a three month period. OBJECTIVE To determine whether Early Years Outcomes (EYOs) significantly improve (beyond typical expected development), if children’s wellbeing improves after the S4BF intervention period, and if there are differences between boys and girls in any progress made. METHODS An evaluation of S4BF was conducted with 111 preschool age children in early years settings in Luton, United Kingdom. Listening, speaking, understanding, and managing feelings and behaviour, in addition to Leuven well-being scales were used in a quasi-experimental study design to measure outcomes pre- and postintervention. RESULTS Statistically and clinically significant differences were found for each of the seven pre- and post measures taken: words understood and spoken, well-being scores, and the four EYO domains. Gender differences were negligible in all analyses undertaken. CONCLUSIONS Children of all abilities may benefit considerably from S4BF, but a language-based intervention of this nature may be transformational for children who are behind developmentally, with EAL needs or of lower socio-economic status. CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN42025531; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN42025531

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Understanding the influence of 24-hour movement behaviours on the health and development of preschool children from low-income South African settings: the SUNRISE pilot study

South African Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.17159/2078-516x/2020/v32i1a8415 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Catherine Draper ◽

Simone A Tomaz ◽

Caylee J Cook ◽

Sasha S Jugdav ◽

Candice Ramsammy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Pilot Study ◽

Sedentary Behaviour ◽

South African ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Low Income ◽

Screen Time ◽

Early Years ◽

Gross Motor

Background: The International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years, SUNRISE, was initiated to assess the extent to which young children meet movement behaviour guidelines (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, screen time, sleep). Objective: The South African SUNRISE pilot study assessed movement behaviours in preschool children from two low-income settings, and associations between these movement behaviours, adiposity, motor skills and executive function (EF). Methods: Preschool child/parent pairs (n = 89) were recruited from preschools in urban Soweto and rural Sweetwaters. Height and weight were measured to assess adiposity. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometers while sedentary behaviour, screen time and sleep were assessed via parent report. Fine and gross motor development were measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3, and EF was assessed using the Early Years Toolbox. Results: The proportion of children meeting the physical activity guideline was 84% , 66% met the sleep guideline ,48% met the screen time guideline , and 26% met all three guidelines. Rural children were more active, but spent more time on screens compared to urban children. Most children were on track for gross (96%) and fine motor (73%) development, and mean EF scores were in the expected range for all EF measures. EF was negatively associated with screen time, and gross motor skills were positively associated with physical activity. Conclusion: The South African SUNRISE study contributes to the growing literature on 24-hour movement behaviours in SA preschool children, and highlights that these behaviours require attention in this age group.

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Parental perceptions, attitudes and knowledge on European preschool children’s total screen time: the ToyBox-study

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz151 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

María L Miguel-Berges ◽

Alba M Santaliestra-Pasias ◽

Theodora Mouratidou ◽

Paloma Flores-Barrantes ◽

Odysseas Androutsos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

Screen Time ◽

Critical Role ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Parental Perceptions ◽

Early Years ◽

Control Group ◽

Sedentary Behaviours ◽

Attitudes And Knowledge

Abstract Background Preschool children spend a significant proportion of their waking hours being sedentary. Parents play a critical role in developing and shaping their children’s lifestyle behaviours, particularly in the early years of life. This study aims to assess parental perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of their preschool children’s sedentary behaviours and the association with children’s television (TV)/video/DVDs viewing and total screen time. Methods Data were obtained from a sample of 4836 children (3.5–5.5 years), participating in the multi-centre ToyBox-study at baseline (T0) and at 1-year follow-up (T1) periods. Data on children’s sedentary behaviours were collected via a standardized proxy-administered primary caregiver’s questionnaire. Results Regarding total screen time, 66.6% of the children at T0 and 71.8% at T1 in the control group exceeded the recommendations, whereas the proportion in the intervention group varied from 69.7% at T0 to 72.5% at T1. The odds of exceeding total screen time recommendations were significantly higher when parental perceptions towards limiting the total screen time were negative [(both T0 and T1 and in the intervention and control groups (P < 0.05)]. Similarly, the odds of exceeding TV/video/DVDs viewing recommendations were significantly higher (both T0 and T1 is observed in both groups) when parental knowledge of recommendation were absent. Conclusions Preschool children whose caregivers stated rules limiting their sedentary screen time were less likely to spend a high amount of time watching TV/video/DVDs. Interventions to increase parental practices may be a promising approach to decrease total screen time of preschool children but studies are needed to confirm this.

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Feasibility of Safe-Tea: a parent-targeted intervention to prevent hot drink scalds in preschool children

Injury Prevention ◽

10.1136/injuryprev-2018-042921 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 31-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

C Verity Bennett ◽

Linda Hollén ◽

Harriet Dorothy Quinn-Scoggins ◽

Alan Emond ◽

Alison Mary Kemp

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

First Aid ◽

Early Years ◽

Visual Methods ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Community Based ◽

Effective Prevention ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Prevention Interventions ◽

The Uk

ObjectiveDespite the high prevalence of preventable hot drink scalds in preschool children, there is a paucity of research on effective prevention interventions and a serious need to improve parents’ knowledge of first aid. This study investigates the feasibility of ‘Safe-Tea’, an innovative multifaceted community-based intervention delivered by early-years practitioners.Methods‘Safe-Tea’ was implemented at Childcare, Stay&Play and Home Visit settings in areas of deprivation in Cardiff, UK. A mixed-methods approach was used, including preintervention and postintervention parent questionnaires and focus groups with parents and practitioners to test the acceptability, practicality and ability of staff to deliver the intervention, and parents’ knowledge and understanding.ResultsIntervention materials, activities and messages were well received and understood by both parents and community practitioners. Interactive and visual methods of communication requiring little to no reading were most acceptable. Parents’ understanding of the risk of hot drink scalds in preschool children and knowledge of appropriate first aid improved postintervention. Parents knew at baseline that they ‘should’ keep hot drinks out of reach. Focus group discussions after intervention revealed improved understanding of likelihood and severity of scald injury to children, which increased vigilance. Parents gained confidence to correct the behaviours of others at home and pass on first aid messages.ConclusionThis feasibility study is a vital step towards the development of a robust, evidence-based behaviour change intervention model. Work is underway to refine intervention materials based on improvements suggested by parents, and test these more widely in communities across the UK.

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