This study aims at checking the effects of an early intervention program (EIP) on the neuropsychomotor development (NPMD) and quality of life (QoL) of 4-18 months old babies attending daycare, following the biopsychosocial (BPS) model of health and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). It was a…

Developing strong language and communication skills in the first years of life provides young children with a foundation for a number of positive outcomes, including school readiness, early literacy skills, and self-regulation. High quality language supports in early childhood education programs are key to this development. Part of providing these…

Natural disasters create immense challenges for young children by exposing them to a high degree of adversity. Interventions designed to build resilience in the aftermath of a natural disaster may help buffer the negative consequences of these adverse experiences. In this article, we report the results of our quasi-experimental evaluations of two…

In some areas of rural Africa, long-standing cultural traditions and beliefs may discourage parents from verbally engaging with their young children. This study assessed the effectiveness of a parenting program designed to encourage verbal engagement between caregivers and infants in Wolof-speaking villages in rural Senegal. Caregivers (n = 443)…

Background: Preterm children have an increased risk regarding self-regulation development. Given the strong link between parenting behaviour (i.e., scaffolding and sensitivity) and children's self-regulation, parental training presents a promising way to counteract the negative consequences of preterm birth. Aims: We explored the effectiveness of…

Background: Dialogic book-sharing is an interactive form of shared reading. It has been shown in high income countries (HICs) to be of significant benefit to child cognitive development. Evidence for such benefit in low and middle income countries (LMICs) is scarce, although a feasibility study of our own produced encouraging findings.…

This study investigates whether extension of a caregiver-led interactive language program may enhance its effectiveness in supporting communication. Caregiver-led language programs, which focus on establishing responsive interaction patterns to support opportunities for communication between caregivers and young children within natural settings,…

The goal of early autism screening is earlier treatment. We pilot-tested a 12-week, low-intensity treatment with seven symptomatic infants ages 7-15 months. Parents mastered the intervention and maintained skills after treatment ended. Four comparison groups were matched from a study of infant siblings. The treated group of infants was…

Parents' involvement in early intervention (EI) services fosters positive developmental trajectories in young children. Although EI research on parenting skills has been abundant, fewer data are available on parents' knowledge of normative child development. Sixty-seven mothers of children participating in a Midwestern city's EI program completed…

The physical environment of the preschool programmes has been proven to affect both children's overall development and the quality of the programme. However, both nationally and internationally the contribution of the physical environment in the effectiveness of a programme and in the achievement of educational goals is often overlooked. The aim…

Although comparison studies are important in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE), results of well-designed comparison studies are likely to be unpublished because of undifferentiated or differently differentiated results across participants. The purpose of this article is to highlight the utility of comparison designs in…

Relationship-based interventions are an effective means for reducing postpartum depression (PPD), but few cost-effective tools that can be administered efficiently in medical and home settings are available or well-studied. This study examines the efficacy of the Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO), an infant-centered relationship-based…

The purpose of this study was to develop a book sharing intervention to support the language development of infants and toddlers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Low-income parents were engaged in a collaborative inquiry to develop "Little Talks." Parents were assigned to three small groups that independently…

Early detection methods for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in infancy are rapidly advancing, yet the development of interventions for infants under two years with or at-risk for ASD remains limited. In order to guide research and practice, this paper systematically reviewed studies investigating interventions for infants under 24 months with or…

The current study examined the effectiveness of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) with lower-income and racial/ethnic minority (African American and Latino/a) couples. Additionally, we tested whether relationship outcomes varied based on the delivery format (i.e., group format vs. couple format). The sample included 321…