Principal Investigator
Elisa Garcia, Sarah Nixon Gerard, Claire Christensen, Tejaswini Tiruke, Maria Carolina Zamora, and Todd Grindal – SRI Education
Project Description
This report summarizes studies of two similar 12-week mobile messaging programs designed to help parents of young children support their children’s development: Bright by Text and Consejos de Univision. Both programs use SMS text messaging to provide parents with brief information, tips, and proposed activities to encourage early learning. The studies were: (i) a randomized controlled trial of Bright by Text, in which approximately 400 parents/guardians in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado were randomized to receive the intervention or to a control group, and (ii) a quasi-experiment of Consejos de Univision, in which approximately 160 parents/guardians who were recruited to participate in the intervention through Univision’s televised ads were compared with 211 parents/guardians who responded to Univision’s Facebook invitation to participate in surveys; sample participants primarily lived in Texas, California, and Illinois. The report focuses on participants’ self-reported experiences with the text messaging content, attitudes toward parenting, self-efficacy, and parenting behaviors (e.g., reading with their child).
Research Questions
The study team sought to answer three confirmatory research questions for each mobile messaging program:
- How does each focal mobile messaging program affect responsive caregiving (i.e., serve and return interactions, rich language environments, and positive affect)?
- How does each focal mobile messaging program affect parent attitudes, knowledge, and confidence?
- How do the effects of mobile messaging on responsive caregiving and parent attitudes, knowledge, and confidence differ across subgroups of parents?
They also examined the following exploratory questions:
- How do parents engage with the information, tips, and activities from each focal program? 5. What do parents perceive as the strengths and areas for improvement of each focal program?
Key Findings
The study results indicate mobile messaging can be an effective strategy for sparking connections between parents and children. Consejos messages supported parents’ engagement in language-rich activities, and parents in both Bright by Text and Consejos reported they valued and benefited from messages.
Study Citation
Garcia, E., Gerard, S. N., Christensen, C., Tiruke, T., Zamora, M. C., & Grindal, T. (2022). Sparking Connections: Evaluations of Mobile Messaging on Responsive Caregiving. SRI International.
The Key Findings above were reproduced from the published report and do not necessarily reflect interpretation of Overdeck Family Foundation staff.
