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Healthy Steps for Young Children: Sustained Results at 5.5 Years (HTML)
By Holly Grason, William Hou, Cynthia Minkovitz, Kamila Mistry, Daniel Scharfstein, Donna Strobino
Pediatrics, 120, 3; September 12, 2007, p.658-668

Summary: This study explored whether Healthy Steps for Young Children has sustained treatment effects at 5.5 years, in light of early findings demonstrating enhanced quality of care and improvements in selected parenting practices. Healthy Steps is a clinical trial that incorporates developmental specialists and enhanced developmental services into pediatric care in the first three years of life. A total of 3,165 families responded to interviews. Families that had received Healthy Steps services were more satisfied with care and were more likely to receive needed anticipatory guidance. They also were more likely to remain at the original practice. Healthy Steps families reported reduced odds of using severe discipline and increased odds of often/almost always negotiating with their child. They had greater odds of reporting a clinical concern regarding their child’s behavior and their child was more likely to read books. There were no effects on safety practices. Findings of sustained treatment effects are consistent with previous research. Universal, practice-based interventions can enhance quality of care for families with young children and can improve selected parenting practices beyond the duration of intervention.

Index Terms: Behavior, Child Development, Outcomes, Young Children, Intervention, Parenting

Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics

Publication Type: Journal Articles

Pages: 12 pages
Language: English
URL: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/120/3/e658

 
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