Primary Care and Parenting

Enriching parenting behaviors in early childhood promotes child development and offers a promising strategy to reduce future educational disparities. However, current interventions are limited by cost and have not been widely disseminated. Recognized as a target for research to improve early childhood development and subsequent school readiness skills among at-risk families, the primary care setting offers an ideal opportunity to reach the millions of children living in poverty. However, what remains unknown is how to more efficiently leverage the primary care setting to deliver a sustainable and effective preventive program to promote positive parenting behaviors and encourage early childhood development in low-income families. Therefore, the investigators designed Sit Down and Play (SDP) a brief parent-directed program delivered in the primary care setting. Modeled after the widely disseminated literacy program Reach Out and Read and grounded in social cognitive theory, SDP is intended to take place during each pediatric well-child visit occurring in a child's first two years with the goal of promoting positive parenting behaviors.

• Sit Down and Play (Behavioral), also known as Handout: Sit Down and Play (SDP) is designed to be a brief, low-cost intervention that incorporates key theoretical constructs to elicit positive parenting behaviors. It is intended to be delivered by existing clinical staff, nonprofessionals, or volunteers during each of the eight well-child visits between 2-24 months of age while a family waits to be seen by their pediatrician in the examination room
• Handout (Other): Handout providing written descriptions of strategies to encourage positive parenting behaviors

Primary outcomes

• Change in Parental Knowledge [Enrollment and 7 months post-enrollment]: Change in parental knowledge regarding importance of talking with children
• Change in participation in cognitively stimulating activities [Enrollment and 7 months post-enrollment]: Change in participation in cognitively stimulating activities such as reading and play as measured by the StimQ
• Change in parenting self-efficacy [Enrollment and 7 months post-enrollment]: Change in perceived self-efficacy in parenting activity as measured by The Tool to Measure Parenting Self Efficacy

Sex: All, ages: 6 Months to 12 Months, accepts healthy volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

Parent is 18 years or older Child is present for a 6, 9, or 12 month well-child visit who attends University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for well-child care Adult present with child at appointment is parent/caregiver of child

Exclusion Criteria:

Parent is non-English speaking Child is acutely sick

• Reshma Shah, MD, Principal investigator, University of Illinois at Chicago