Poster #52 - Communication Pattern Analysis: Caregiver-Infant Interactions Following Different Doses of Caregiver Coaching

• In Event: Poster Session 04

Abstract

Responsive caregiver attention and communication are crucial components of infant language
development (e.g., Bornstein et al., 2020; Short et al., 2019). Caregiver-infant communication
characterized by joint attention, infant-directed speech, use of gestures, and turn-taking promotes
positive language acquisition in 6- to 12-month-old infants (e.g., Donnelly & Kidd, 2021;
Ramirez et al., 2020). The focus of this presentation is on analysis and outcomes
of caregiver-infant interactions following 8-session, 4-session, 1-session coaching assignments with dyads
from different socio-economic levels; we also report on a no-coaching control group. We used
Communication Pattern Analysis (Fogel & Lyra, 1997; Hsu & Fogel, 2001) to code
communication patterns before coaching began, at the end of the respective 8-, 4-, and 1-session
and control group assignments, and at 3-months follow-up. We hypothesized that caregivers-infants
in the highest intensity coaching intervention (8 sessions) would show more changes in
contingent back-and-forth or symmetrical communication patterns (Hsu & Fogel, 2001) than
caregivers with fewer sessions.

Methodologies
Twenty-five caregiver-infant dyads were video-recorded engaging in 5 minutes “interacting as
you normally would with your baby.” These same instructions occurred at the first (and last) of
the 8-, 4-, 1- and no-session assignment periods, and at 3-months follow-up. Independent teams
of professional speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with expertise in child language acquisition
worked with student clinicians to code multiple communication measures (e.g., caregiver
utterances, infant vocalizations) and communication patterns, as shown in Table 1 (Fogel &
Lyra, 1997; Hsu & Fogel, 2001). Two-person teams consensus-coded all 300 seconds in ELAN.
Reliability and fidelity testing occurred before and during coding with a required minimum 80%
agreement.

Results & Conclusion
As of this proposal date, we have not completed coding the 3-month follow-up videos but expect
to within the year. Results to date, however, show three communication patterns (symmetrical,
asymmetrical, and unilateral) representing caregiver attempts at contingent responsivity, but only
symmetrical communication patterns (SYM) revealing caregiver-infant turn-taking. As shown in
Table 2, the mean SYM time for the 8-session group, primarily from low-SES backgrounds, shows the
largest gains in turn-taking interactions. The second-largest gains occurred in the no-session or
control group, a group of all mid-SES dyads. Post-hoc analyses revealed that changes in SYM as
a result of intervention dosage were similar when only low-SES families were considered. We
concluded from this analysis that intensity or dosage of caregiver-infant coaching influences
caregiver knowledge and infant responsivity, particularly in low-SES caregivers. We see positive
application for similar coaching programs in speech-language pathology training programs.

Authors

• Shiree Harbick, James Madison University
  Presenting Author

• Brenda Seal, James Madison University

• Rory Depaolis, James Madison University

• Susan Ingram, James Madison University

• Charlette McQuilkin, Rockingham County Public Schools