Mendez Adriana I, Ortiz Selena Valladares, Guerra Karen, Laca Alexa Gonzalez, Pickard Katherine
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Marcus Autism Center, Atlanta, GA.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2025 Jul 10;34(4):2062-2071. doi: 10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00455. Epub 2025 May 21.
Caregiver-mediated interventions may be particularly well suited to support the communication and early literacy development of Latino children. However, few interventions have been adapted and/or implemented for the Latino community. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a culturally adapted caregiver-mediated early language intervention within a Latino-serving community nonprofit.
The current study used a community-partnered, prospective design to evaluate child and caregiver outcomes after participating in virtual or in-person intervention groups based on the Hanen Program It Takes Two to Talk at a community nonprofit providing services to the Latino community. Data collection measures included sociodemographic surveys, session attendance, caregiver efficacy and satisfaction, and child vocabulary and developmental screeners. Caregiver efficacy and child vocabulary measures were administered at pre- and post-intervention. Twenty Latino families completed all measures.
Caregivers tended to have more than one child, had low levels of acculturation, and mean household income was $26,629.09. Over 75% of Latino caregivers attended half or greater group sessions. Additionally, caregivers reported being satisfied with the program with all caregivers reporting that they would recommend the program to other families. Paired-samples tests revealed that compared to pre-intervention, at post-intervention, caregivers reported a significant increase in their knowledge about their child's needs and strength, their ability to advocate for their child, and their ability to access community resources. Results revealed no statistically significant changes in child vocabulary outcomes.
Results suggest that adapting and implementing a caregiver-mediated early language and literacy program in the community is feasible and acceptable to underserved Latino caregivers. Additionally, participating in the program improved caregiver empowerment and efficacy. Future work will further examine more nuanced child social communication outcomes, establish long-term follow up of the participants, and focus on capacity building within the community nonprofit.
照顾者介导的干预措施可能特别适合支持拉丁裔儿童的沟通和早期读写能力发展。然而，针对拉丁裔社区调整和/或实施的干预措施很少。本研究旨在评估在一个为拉丁裔社区服务的非营利组织内，一项经过文化调整的照顾者介导的早期语言干预措施的可行性和初步效果。
本研究采用社区合作的前瞻性设计，以评估在一个为拉丁裔社区提供服务的非营利组织中，参与基于哈嫩项目“两人对话”的虚拟或面对面干预小组后儿童和照顾者的效果。数据收集措施包括社会人口学调查、课程出席情况、照顾者效能和满意度，以及儿童词汇和发育筛查。在干预前和干预后对照顾者效能和儿童词汇进行测量。20个拉丁裔家庭完成了所有测量。
照顾者往往有不止一个孩子，文化适应程度较低，家庭平均收入为26,629.09美元。超过75%的拉丁裔照顾者参加了一半或更多的小组课程。此外，照顾者报告对该项目感到满意，所有照顾者都表示会向其他家庭推荐该项目。配对样本检验显示，与干预前相比，干预后照顾者报告他们对孩子需求和优势的了解、为孩子争取权益的能力以及获取社区资源的能力有显著提高。结果显示儿童词汇量结果没有统计学上的显著变化。
结果表明，在社区中调整和实施照顾者介导的早期语言和读写项目对服务不足的拉丁裔照顾者来说是可行且可接受的。此外，参与该项目提高了照顾者的权能感和效能。未来的工作将进一步研究更细微的儿童社会沟通结果，建立参与者的长期随访，并关注社区非营利组织内部的能力建设。
