LOVING (Learning About Our Behavior is Valuable for Increasing Nurturing Relationships and Healthy Growth) RCT

The LOVING study is a randomized controlled trial designed to determine whether adaptations to an internationally recognized parenting program that enhances sensitive caregiving likewise improves sensitive caregiving in Singapore and, in turn, downstream child outcomes in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development during the early childhood years.

Research shows that sensitive caregiving is linked to secure relationships, decreased child mental health problems, better executive functioning, and potentially healthier body mass indices. The Video Feedback to Improve Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) program is an internationally recognized home-based intervention designed to enhance sensitive caregiving. However, evidence demonstrating its efficacy in Asia remains extremely limited. Moreover, most previous evaluations have focused primarily on parenting or child mental health outcomes, with newer work only beginning to focus upon additional child outcomes.

In this study, families with young children from median-income and below households living in Singapore will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. Some families will participate in a locally adapted version of the home-based VIPP-SD program that includes additional health-related scenarios (VIPP-SD-SingH). Other families will be assigned to CARE-SD, which was developed within the context of proof-of-concept research. CARE-SD is a standardized, digitally delivered parenting program using vicarious pre-rendered video examples and comments derived from the VIPP-SD program and does not include personalized feedback during home visits. Furthermore, CARE-SD includes health related scenarios and language and settings familiar to families living in Singapore. A third group will receive developmental information about children's learning and development (i.e., NeuroEducation Active Control). The programs are brief and are designed to be practical and accessible for families.

Families participating in the study will take part in research visits that include questionnaires, observations of parent-child interaction, and activities designed to assess children's development. Laboratory visits will take place at IHDP (a collaborating institution) research facilities. Information collected in the study will help researchers better understand how parenting support programs influence children's emotional well-being, behavior, learning, and physical health.

The results of this research may help inform the development of effective programs to support families and promote healthy child development.