Treatment integrity in a home‐based pre‐reading intervention programme

Abstract

Treatment integrity is an underexposed issue in the phonological awareness intervention research. The current study assessed the integrity of treatment of the families (N = 32) participating in the experimental condition of a home-based pre-reading intervention study. The participating kindergartners were all genetically at risk for developing dyslexia. Two aspects of treatment integrity, the number of lessons completed (quantity) and the quality of the administration of the programme (observed in a videotaped session), were investigated. The level of treatment integrity turned out to be 66% when completion of all lessons was taken as quantitative criterion, and about 74% when quality of the parent-child interaction was assessed. The two measures could predict the pre-reading skills at the end of kindergarten. Together they accounted for 43% of the variance in this dependent variable. Together with pre-reading scores at the pre-test the total predicted variance was 87%. The number of lessons completed still contributed 12% to the prediction after controlling for pre-test scores. The results indicated that treatment integrity indeed appears to be an important aspect of treatment outcome and should therefore be included in intervention studies.

Developing Early Literacy Skills: A Meta‐Analysis of Alphabet Learning and Instruction

“…This reduced impact may be due to the inherent difficulties in implementing home-based programs. Home-based treatments may be more difficult to organize and over-see, with fidelity to the treatment program suffering (van Otterloo, van Der Leij, & Veldkamp, 2006). The content of such programs may also be less focused on teaching specific components of literacy as opposed to more global abilities (e.g., oral language, print awareness, general cognitive skills) or require better parent training to be implemented in a manner that affects children’s learning.…”

Early intervention with children of dyslexic parents: Effects of computer-based reading instruction at home on literacy acquisition

“…The beneficial effects of the method were still evident one year later. On evaluating treatment integrity of a home-based early intervention study in children at risk for dyslexia, van Otterloo, van der Leij, and Veldkamp (2006) reported that the number of lessons completed by parent and child rather than the quality of parent-child interaction appeared to be the more powerful predictor of treatment outcomes. Furthermore, the findings of quantity and quality of administration indicated that the level of treatment integrity was quite satisfactory.…”

Impact of videotaped instruction in dialogic reading strategies: An investigation of caregiver implementation integrity

“…Therefore, the measurement of treatment integrity is important to accurately identify the mechanism responsible for experimental effects. It has been argued that the assessment of treatment integrity is even more important in home-based than in school-based interventions because the home-based implementers (e.g., parents, caregivers) are nonprofessionals (van Otterlo, van der Leij, & Veldkamp, 2006). Additionally, the very nature of the home setting is likely to increase the likelihood of variability in terms of how and when the intervention is implemented.…”