A Low-Cost, Social Media-Supported Intervention for Caregivers to Enhance Toddlers' Language Learning: Mixed Methods...

Widely accessible, cost-effective early language development interventions for caregivers of young children are needed to promote optimal outcomes in children in the United States. Social media short-form videos, such as those on TikTok, may be a natural fit for delivering this type of intervention.

This study aims to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a low-intensity, short-term social media intervention for caregivers of young toddlers.

In total, 25 caregivers of children aged between 12 and 18 months participated in this study. We shared 32 short-form videos via TikTok over an 8-week period to help increase caregivers' knowledge about early childhood communication. We examined metrics to characterize participant engagement, explored measures of changes in caregivers' knowledge, and conducted a qualitative analysis of caregiver interviews after the intervention.

Results indicated that most caregivers were able to consistently view the videos, with approximately 75% (16/21) viewership per video (mean 15.75 likes out of 21 possible likes), and caregivers reported positive effects of the intervention on their knowledge of how to support their child's communication. The results of the exploratory measure of change in caregiver knowledge were positive but not statistically significant (t₂₁=-1.357; P=.09). Caregivers offered suggestions for content and enhancements to videos for future investigations.

Low-cost, short-term social media interventions could be an effective means to equip caregivers with the information they need to advance their children's language abilities, particularly for families from lower-income backgrounds whose access to health information about their young children may be limited.