Evaluation of a LENA-Based Online Intervention for Parents of Young Children

Abstract

This research investigated the efficacy of a pilot version of an online parent intervention that combined LENA-based automated language environment feedback technology with internet capabilities. Seventy-two parents of typically developing children 9-21 months of age were assigned to immediate-or delayed-treatment (control) conditions. During the treatment phase, parents completed 10 recordings over a 3-month period while engaging in a web-based program supporting interpretation of LENA feedback reports and strategies for increasing talk and interaction. Parents completed additional recordings and language assessments over a 9-month follow up phase. Aggregate analyses found no differences in language behaviors between immediate-treatment vs. delayed-treatment groups. However, parents who started from below average ratings on automated language measures demonstrated significant post-intervention increases which held longitudinally. Importantly, participant children showed significant elevations in language ability. Results suggest that an online intervention approach can help some parents increase talk and interaction in the home. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed. AbstractThis research investigated the efficacy of a pilot version of an online parent intervention that combined LENA-based automated language environment feedback technology with internet capabilities. Seventy-two parents of typically developing children 9-21 months of age were assigned to immediate-or delayed-treatment (control) conditions. During the treatment phase, parents completed 10 recordings over a 3-month period while engaging in a web-based program supporting interpretation of LENA feedback reports and strategies for increasing talk and interaction. Parents completed additional recordings and language assessments over a 9-month follow up phase. Aggregate analyses found no differences in language behaviors between immediate-treatment vs. delayed-treatment groups. However, parents who started from below average ratings on automated language measures demonstrated significant post-intervention increases which held longitudinally. Importantly, participant children showed significant elevations in language ability. Results suggest that an online intervention approach can help some parents increase talk and interaction in the home. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

What Do North American Babies Hear? A large‐scale cross‐corpus analysis

“…It is challenging to directly compare the present results with previous work due, in large part, to methodological differences. However, we can compare the LENA‐generated adult word counts (AWC) and child vocalization counts (CVC) for the 59/61 recordings in our dataset that were >8 hr with published LENA results, as a check of potential generalizability (Gilkerson et al., ; Greenwood et al., ; Soderstrom & Wittebolle, ; Zimmerman et al., ). While the average AWC count in our corpora was slightly higher than in other papers, both the average AWC and average CVC were within one standard deviation of this previously published work (see Table ).…”

“…It is challenging to directly compare the present results with previous work due, in large part, to methodological differences. However, we can compare the LENA-generated adult word counts (AWC) and child vocalization counts (CVC) for the 59/61 recordings in our dataset that were >8 hr with published LENA results, as a check of potential generalizability (Gilkerson et al, 2017;Greenwood et al, 2011;Soderstrom & Wittebolle, 2013;Zimmerman et al, 2009).…”

“…This is due in large part to emerging technologies like LENA (Greenwood, Thiemann‐Bourque, Walker, Buzhardt, & Gilkerson, ), which provide an unobtrusive long‐form recording method supplemented by automated speech analyses. Such recordings have been used to examine child and caregiver speech to both typically developing children, and those with language delays and disorders, using both manual and algorithm‐augmented speech analysis (e.g., Bergelson & Aslin, ; Dykstra et al., ; Gilkerson, Richards, & Topping, ; Soderstrom & Wittebolle, ; Suskind et al., ; Warlaumont, Richards, Gilkerson, & Oller, ; Weisleder & Fernald, ). Initial studies based on these data have revealed much about the role of children's input and speech volubility on language outcomes.…”

Breaking the silence: Providing authentic opportunities for parents to be heard

“…Apart from the merest suggestion of ethics in some of the articles, an exploration of the feelings of parents about being part of the research, in stark contrast to the careful consideration of the emotional influence of research upon children, was notably absent. In an article by Gilkerson et al (2017), despite the fact that family conversations were being recorded during an entire day in the home and passed on to the researchers, no discussions took place about the intrusion upon privacy that this involved. Neither was there any discussion of what would happen if any safeguarding or concerning issues might arise.…”

“…There is no acknowledgement that the researchers designed the questions that would be asked, or that the researchers identified the themes during the data analysis in order to reach their own conclusions about what they decided was most important. Similarly, in Gilkerson et al's (2017) research there was a failure to acknowledge that the eighty-five dollar payment for participation might influence the sample that volunteered for the research, or the impact that the recording might have upon natural family interactions. The focus remains firmly upon the results themselves, which are assumed valid.…”