Using the LENA System in Early Intervention - b

Early Intervention (EI) services are provided to infants and toddlers with documented
developmental delays in all 50 states and US territories. EI improves long-term
infant-toddler adaptation and lowers the cost of care if parents use the services. However,
depressive symptoms can reduce mothers' ability to provide the daily child
development-promoting activities recommended by EI, increasing the child's risk for
communication and behavioral problems. Indeed, repeated studies have shown that depressive
symptoms reduce mothers' consistent use of developmentally sensitive, child-centered speech
which, in turn, lead to negative child cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Previous research
showed that over one-third of mothers of children with disabilities have significant levels
of depressive symptoms, a rate higher than the population at large. Infants and toddlers of
depressed mothers have been shown to receive fewer intensive services and have been shown to
interfere with uptake of EI services through impaired mother-child interactions. A
preliminary study by the investigators found that over a third of mothers of infants and
toddlers enrolled in EI in a large North Carolina county had severe depressive symptoms and
depression histories. Fortunately, the investigators also found that when depressed mothers
were provided with concrete, attainable skills for improving interactions with their child,
the impact of depression on both mother and child was substantially reduced. Focusing on a
depressed mother's child-centered speech and reciprocal communication also improves child
outcomes, even when the child is cognitively compromised. However, none of these specialized
services are part of EI best practices. Thus, EI is an ideal setting in which to integrate
screening, referral and targeted skills for depressed mothers in order to improve
parent-child interactions and ultimately, child outcomes.

This project will develop an intervention focused on communication between infants and
toddlers with diagnosed or suspected developmental disabilities and their mothers who have
depressive symptoms. The primary aim of the study is to test the feasibility and initial
efficacy of embedding a language pedometer, the Language ENhancement Assessment/intervention
system (LENA), into EI to teach mothers to increase child-centered speech and reciprocal
communication, which have been linked to positive child outcomes, and to increase parenting
efficacy in depressed mothers of children in EI.

While maternal depressive symptoms can disrupt developmentally stimulating, child-centered
speech, simple tools to assess and provide feedback to mothers can improve the child-centered
speech and reciprocal language interactions that positively impact child outcomes. Although
the LENA has been used in other studies and shown improvements in mothers' child-centered
speech, the system has not been used with mothers showing depressive symptoms or in the EI
context. The investigators will examine the efficacy of using LENA in a
pre-/post-intervention design. Specifically, the investigators will examine whether mothers'
primarily independent use of the LENA with feedback has an impact on the child's language
environment, parenting efficacy and maternal depressive symptoms.

The investigators will also conduct follow up data collection with participating mothers,
which will be approximately 6 months after her last LENA recording. Follow up activities will
involve having the mother conduct one more LENA recording and provide survey information over
the phone, which will allow the investigators to determine residual effects of the study
interventions, additional demographic information, and feedback for future studies.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Be 18 years or older. Mothers who are 18 years can give consent independently.

- Be the biological or adoptive mother of an infant (6 weeks - 18 months old) or toddler
(19 -32 months old) enrolled in EI at the time of recruitment; mothers must be the
primary caretaker of the child.

- EI services are offered only to infants and toddlers up to the age of 36 months; this
study caps the age of enrollment at 32 months to ensure that toddlers are continuously
enrolled in EI during the data collection period.

- Able to independently give consent. Mothers must have adequate capacity to participate
in the LENA intervention as well as understand what they will be asked to do as
participants.

- Score 8 or higher on the PHQ-9. This score is indicative of depressive symptoms.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Currently pregnant by self-report.

- Child is completely deaf