Parent-mediated interventions for infants with Down syndrome
Date
2020
Authors
Swanson, Molly, author
Fidler, Deborah, advisor
Daunhauer, Lisa, committee member
Sample, Pat, committee member
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Abstract
Parent-mediated interventions (PMIs) are becoming increasingly popular but the parents' role as the administrator of the intervention, specifically the parental fidelity to an intervention protocol (PF) has yet to be standardized. Early syndrome specific PMIs can influence many domains of development for infants with Down syndrome (DS); however, the impact of PMIs on object exploration for infants with DS has yet to be tested. The current study examined the impact of parental fidelity to a PMI protocol on object exploration skills in infants with DS. The sample for this study consisted of 37 infants (M=7.04, SD=2.44) infants from 4 to 18 months with a confirmed case of trisomy 21. Infants in the intervention group (n=19) received the Sticky Mittens intervention and infants in the alternative group (n=18) received the 'object dance' activity. Parents were asked to fill out a parent logs to track their PF. Multiple regressions revealed that increased parental fidelity resulted in more infant swats and reach attempts from pre to post-intervention for the intervention condition, but not the control condition. The findings from this study indicate the unique role that parental fidelity plays in explaining intervention effects or a lack of intervention effects in PMIs. The implications for parental fidelity in PMIs are discussed.
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Subject
early interventions
parent-mediated interventions
infants with Down syndrome
developmental disabilities