Early-Literacy Intervention Conducted by Caregivers of Children with Language Impairment: Implementation Patterns Using Survival Analysis

This study examined implementation of an evidence-based home reading program by caregivers of children with language impairment. Caregivers received materials and supports to read with their children for 15 weeks, four times weekly; in total, 128 caregivers were enrolled. Survival analysis showed that 55% of caregivers completed the program, and the majority of dropouts did so early in the intervention. Mulitnominal logistic regression results showed that dropout was associated with household income, child literacy skills, and receipt of behavior-change techniques by caregivers, especially financial incentives (50 cents per book reading). Results may advance the science of implementation in the area of early childhood disability and could provide suggestions to improve caregivers’ effectiveness in implementing interventions to their children.