Bierman KL, et al. - In this randomized clinical trial, the researchers analyzed the sustained effects of a preschool home visiting program on child and family competencies and on child need for services 4 years later. They found that Research-Based and Developmentally Informed–Parent home visiting program (REDI-P) produced sustained benefits evident 4 years after the intervention, significantly decreasing child need for school services. This investigation validated the value of preschool home visiting as a strategy to help close the gap in school readiness and child well-being related to poverty.

Methods

• In this trial, individual families with preschool children were appointed to receive the Research-Based and Developmentally Informed–Parent home visiting program (REDI-P) (intervention group) or math home learning games in the mail (control group).
• In third grade, follow-up assessments occurred.
• Families were enrolled from 24 Head Start centers in 3 Pennsylvania counties serving rural and urban areas.
• Participants in the study were four-year-old children from 200 low-income families.
• Families were enrolled in fall 2008 and fall 2009.
• Researchers collected the follow-up data used in spring 2013 and spring 2014.
• The examinations were directed in 2016 to 2017.
• For this analysis, REDI-P visits followed a well-specified curriculum, with 10 home visits during preschool and 6 booster visits in kindergarten.
• Guardians got training to improve parent-child relationships and home learning materials to support child development and school readiness.
• Intervention focused on boosting competencies in academic performance and social-emotional adjustment and reducing child problems at home were the main outcomes.
• Direct assessments, teacher ratings, and parent reports were gathered.
• Third-grade teachers recorded all services that children required and received at school.

Results

• The study results showed that 200 partaking children (110 [55.0%] white, 52 [26.0%] black, and 38 [19.0%] Latino; 112 [56.0%] male) had a mean (SD) age of 4.45 (0.29) years at the start of intervention.
• It was observed that third-grade outcomes were available for 153 (76.5%) of the initial sample and revealed statistically significant effects on multiple measures in each competency domain.
• REDI-P reduced child need for educational and mental health services at school.
• It was noted that significant effect sizes were small to moderate, averaging approximately one-third of 1 SD (Cohen d = 0.27 to 0.45).
• Mediation models exhibited that intervention effects on services were accounted for by intervention effects on the targeted competencies.