Exploring Sequential Association Between Caregiver Responsiveness and Child Communication: The Impact of Community-Based LENA Start™ Implementation and the Role of Child Communication Skills

Abstract

Understanding the sequential associations between caregiver responsivity and child communication is pivotal for enhancing child outcomes and guiding effective interventions. This dissertation study evaluates the LENA Start™ on caregiver-child communication, focusing on sequential association between caregiver and child communicative behaviors. Additionally, it examines the predictive power of child communication skills on these sequential associations. Employing a pre-post study design with 28 caregiver-child dyads, the research analyzes changes in caregiver-child interactions before and after the community-based LENA Start™ intervention. While the study effectively used existing datasets to explore the impact of LENA Start™ on caregiver-child communication dynamics, the sample size limitation may have hindered the ability to fully capture the sequential associations. Results indicated slight increases in antecedent caregiver opportunities to respond (OTRs) without significant changes in directives’ frequency or the strength of sequential associations between caregiver behaviors and child responses. Notably, children’s communication skills predicted the strength of sequential associations, particularly indicating that higher child communication skills led to fewer caregiver directives. The LENA Start™ showed limited overall impact on caregiver-child communication patterns. However, the predictive relationship between children’s communication skills and interaction patterns suggests the importance of individualized considerations in interventions to effectively enhance caregiver-child communication dynamics.