A Randomized Control Trial of a Responsive Parenting Intervention to Support Healthy Brain Development and Self-regulation in Toddlers Born Preterm

The Play and Learning Strategies (PALS) intervention provides parents with behaviors that, collectively, are known as a responsive parenting style. Four constructs make up this responsive parenting style: 1) contingent responsiveness, (responses are conditionally linked to the child's signals) 2) warm sensitivity (high levels of affection and understanding of child states), 3) maintaining vs. redirecting attention, and 4) verbal scaffolding (providing child appropriate language supports). Parents assigned to this intervention will be paired with a coach who will guide them through the program over the course of 9 weekly sessions. The intervention (ePALS) will be implemented via an internet adaptation through the Children's Learning Institute's ENGAGE platform. However, ePALS could easily be adapted for other platforms and accessed with any web-enabled device.

Families assigned to the control condition will be provided with a website with information corresponding to milestones of toddler development. Control families will be asked to review that week's materials before the each of the 9 weekly coach calls. The active control condition serves three important purposes: 1) Maintains an active line of communication and accurate contact records for Post-test 1 and Post-test 2 session scheduling; 2) Masks participant's awareness of intervention vs. control assignment; and 3) Approximates communication with intervention staff such that results showing ePALS effects are attributable to intervention rather than regular communication with an interventionist.