Petruccelli Marisa, Howard Mya, Morelos Andres, Wainer Allison, Broder-Fingert Sarabeth, Ingersoll Brooke, Stone Wendy L, Carter Alice S
Department of Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States.
Department of Human Services, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States.
J Pediatr Psychol. 2025 Jan 1;50(1):96-105. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsae065.
The COVID-19 pandemic required behavioral researchers to rapidly pivot to the implementation of remote study protocols to facilitate data collection. Remote implementation required robust and flexible research protocols including reliable audio/visual technology that met all the quality, security, and privacy hallmarks of lab-based equipment, while also being portable and usable by nontechnical staff and participants. The project's primary purpose was to develop a technology kit that could be deployed for data collection in homes with young children. The secondary objective was to determine the feasibility of the kit for use longitudinally across four disparate sites.
User-centered design principles were employed in the development and implementation of a technology kit deployed across urban, suburban, and rural participant locations in four states. Preliminary feasibility and usability data were gathered to determine the reliability of the kit across three timepoints.
In study 1, a technology kit was constructed addressing all project needs including the provision of the internet to connect remotely with participants. Staff training protocols and participant-facing materials were developed to accompany deployment procedures. In study 2, data gathered in technology logs demonstrated successful capturing of video footage in 96% of opportunities with most technology challenges mitigated. Subsequent behavioral coding indicated 100% of captured assessment footage has been successfully coded to date. Moreover, participants needed less support for technology setup at their later timepoints, and staff rated the kit as highly usable.
This study offers a model for future development of technology use in remote community- and home-based pediatric research.
新冠疫情要求行为研究人员迅速转向实施远程研究方案以促进数据收集。远程实施需要强大且灵活的研究方案，包括可靠的音频/视频技术，该技术要满足基于实验室的设备的所有质量、安全和隐私标准，同时还要便于携带，非技术人员和参与者也能使用。该项目的主要目的是开发一种可用于在有幼儿的家庭中进行数据收集的技术套件。次要目标是确定该套件在四个不同地点纵向使用的可行性。
在开发和实施一个部署在四个州的城市、郊区和农村参与者地点的技术套件时采用了以用户为中心的设计原则。收集了初步的可行性和可用性数据，以确定该套件在三个时间点的可靠性。
在研究1中，构建了一个满足所有项目需求的技术套件，包括提供互联网以便与参与者进行远程连接。制定了工作人员培训方案和面向参与者的材料以配合部署程序。在研究2中，技术日志中收集的数据表明，在96%的机会中成功捕获了视频片段，大多数技术挑战得到缓解。随后的行为编码表明，到目前为止，100%的捕获评估片段已成功编码。此外，参与者在后期时间点对技术设置的支持需求减少，工作人员对该套件的可用性评价很高。
本研究为未来在偏远社区和家庭为基础的儿科研究中技术使用的发展提供了一个模型。
