National study of an early parenting intervention: implementation differences on parent and child outcomes: parenting...

Area of Science:

• Early Childhood Development
• Music Therapy
• Parenting Interventions

Background:

• Marginalized parents of young children (birth to 3) often face challenges impacting parenting and child development.
• Group music therapy interventions show promise in supporting these families.
• Scaling interventions nationally requires understanding site-specific implementation effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Sing & Grow music therapy program on parenting and child development outcomes.
• To examine if intervention outcomes varied by implementation site during national scale-up.
• To identify factors influencing outcome differences across sites.

Main Methods:

• A 10-week group music therapy intervention (Sing & Grow) was implemented nationally.
• 850 participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention across four sites.
• Outcomes were compared between the original site, a well-supported new site, and two less-supported new sites.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in parent-reported parenting and child outcomes were observed across all sites.
• Clinician-reported outcomes showed greater improvement in the original and well-supported sites.
• Differences in clinician-reported outcomes were partly explained by participant characteristics and program quality/support.

Conclusions:

• The Sing & Grow music therapy intervention demonstrates consistent benefits for parenting and child development, regardless of site.
• Implementation factors and participant characteristics may influence clinician-reported outcomes.
• Further rigorous evaluations are needed to confirm the efficacy of music therapy in early parenting interventions.