Leveraging Clinic to Promote Literacy in Young Children

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Our primary aim of this study is to assess the impact of an early literacy text messaging program (TipsByText, TbT) for parents of children between 3 to 4-years old during an office visit without access to preschool. To assess this aim, our objectives are to specifically assess (1) child literacy using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening Tool (PALS-PreK) and (2) caregiver involvement using the Parent Child Interactivity Scale (PCI) pre- and post-intervention, comparing with a control group not receiving the TipsByText intervention. A secondary outcome of this study is to compare trust among families that participate in the Tips by Text (TbT) Program with families that do not participate in TbT using the Trust Evaluation Scale. Children will complete the PALS-PreK and caregivers of the children will complete the PCI and Trust Evaluation Scales.

Official Title
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Tips By Text: Using Text Messages to Support Clinic Parents and Improve Child School Readiness Outcomes

Conditions
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Literacy

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Tips By Text Messages


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Parents of participants must be last least 18 years of age. Parents must be English and Spanish speaking, as the Tips by Text texting platform is currently in those languages. Child must be 3-5 years old at the time of their clinic visit. Exclusion Criteria: Parent does not speak English or Spanish. This applies given that the texting intervention has the capacity to be conducted in these two languages. Parent does not have cell phone that would allow texting. For the literacy texting intervention, the child must NOT be enrolled in Head Start,Transitional Kindergarten or other subsidized preschool. Parents will be provided with a list of preschools that would warrant exclusion. Childcare is ok. For the trust and no-show evaluation arm, participants may be enrolled in any form of early childhood education. Child is currently receiving services for delay (speech, motor, or cognitive). If the child briefly received services for delays over a year before start date of the study, they are still eligible.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 3 Years
Maximum Age: 5 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Children and caregivers receiving TipsByText messages<br> | Other: Tips By Text Messages<br>* Texts sent to caregivers meant to increase parent child interaction around literacy, sent to participants 3 x a week for 7 months<br>|
| No Intervention: Children and caregivers not receiving TipsByText texts<br> | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in child literacy measured by the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening Tool (PALS-PreK) Score | The PALS-PreK measures preschoolers' knowledge of literacy fundamentals: name writing, alphabet knowledge, sound awareness, print and word awareness, rhyme awareness, and nursery rhyme awareness. The English and Spanish PALS-PreK versions slightly differ in content, thus we standardized composite scores for both the pre and post score by language to allow fair comparisons. Lower-case alphabet recognition or letter sounds was not included in the total score for English or Spanish. Score range for English was 0 to 73 and for Spanish was 0 to 94, with higher score indicating better outcome | Baseline and month 9 | 
| Change in caregiver involvement measured by the Parent Child Interactivity Scale (PCI) | The Parent Child Interactivity Scale (PCI) uses parent self-assessment and a four-point Likert scale for five items assessing reading, such as Looked at pictures together in a book, and ten items assessing other literacy activities, such as Practiced rhyming words. We calculated scores for reading (PCI Read), for other activities (PCI Activities), and a composite score was calculated (PCI Total). Items ranged from 0 to 3 for 15 items, thus score ranged from 0 to 45, with higher score indicating better outcome. | Baseline and month 9 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in parent trust in pediatricians using Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale | Physician trust is measured by the sum of the 10 item scores (reverse-scored for negative items), ranging from 10 to 50, with a higher score indicating more trust. | Baseline and month 9 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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school readiness