Principal Investigator
Michael Connor Garbe – University of Oklahoma
Project Description
This is a correlational study that aims to leverage existing survey data from parents of children ages six months to five years old who had brought their child to a well visit at one of 427 pediatric clinics in North and South Carolina. Clinics collected survey data when conducting intake procedures with parents during well visits. Parents reported on whether they had ever received a book at a well visit before, and what their current reading behaviors were with their child. All data were collected during six-week periods in the fall and spring of each study year. The researchers binarized all outcomes and used logistic regression to examine whether there were any differences in reading related behaviors for parents who had received a book before (the Reach Out and Read group) or not (the comparison group). Models included controls for site, child age, insurance status, caregiver education, and survey language. There were 98,214 parent-child dyads included in the study.
Research Questions
- Do caregivers with prior exposure to ROR read to their children with greater frequency than caregivers with no prior exposure to ROR?
- Are caregivers with prior exposure to ROR more likely to engage in shared reading behaviors compared to caregivers with no prior exposure to ROR?
Key Findings
Findings revealed that parents who had received a book at the pediatrician’s office in the past were more likely to read to their child every day. The returning Reach Out and Read parents were also more likely than their comparison peers to report that they let their child turn the pages when reading, make up stories about what was happening in the pictures, help the child identify things in the pictures, read to the child for at least 30 minutes every day, and take the child to the library.
Study Citation
Garbe, M. C., Bond, S. L., Boulware, C., Merrifield, C., Ramos-Hardy, T., Dunlap, M., … & Miller-Fitzwater, A. (2023). The effect of exposure to Reach Out and Read on shared reading behaviors. Academic Pediatrics, 23(8), 1598-1604.
The Key Findings above were reproduced from the published report and do not necessarily reflect interpretation of Overdeck Family Foundation staff.
