Little Talks: Building Home Visiting’s Capacity to Promote Communication and Language Skills for Children under Three Years of Age

Abstract

Poverty continues be most prevalent among young children under three years of age, when development, particularly in communication and language skills, is rapid and vulnerable to socioeconomic impacts. Home visiting was intentionally formulated to support parents in promoting children’s development and health, offsetting poverty’s threats. Little Talks, a parent-mediated intervention to promote children’s communication and language growth, was designed for implementation in home visiting programs. Developed through community-partnership research methods, Little Talks is a modular intervention that is tailored to parents’ styles and preferences for interacting with their children. A randomized control trial of Little Talks’ effectiveness in attaining outcomes aligned with the two-generational processes inherent in home visiting was undertaken. Situated in an Early Head Start program, home visitors and the families they served were randomly assigned to receive EHS with Little Talks and typical EHS services. Assessed across four time points during a 10-month period, Little Talks was demonstrated to significantly enhance the quality of home visits and parents’ involvement in their children’s early learning experiences. In addition, parents’ depressive symptoms did not increase as noted for the comparison condition. Communication and language growth improved for EHS Little Talks children, although statistical significance was not attained. Moreover, parenting outcomes were greatest for families who were less acculturated to US either by immigration status and/or language preferences. Implications advancing Little Talks as a feasible and effective addition to home visiting programs are offered.