LOVING (Learning About Our Behavior is Valuable for Increasing Nurturing Relationships and Healthy Growth) RCT
LOVING (Learning About Our Behavior is Valuable for Increasing Nurturing Relationships and Healthy Growth)
National University of Singapore
624 participants
May 25, 2026
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
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.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria3
- Children must be 2 to 5.5 years of age at their pre-test visit. Children with a medical or developmental condition that makes it hard for them to see, hear, move, or communicate in typical ways (for example, autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome, spina bifida, or serious vision or hearing problems) will not be eligible to participate. This is because the study focuses on everyday patterns of parent-child interaction. Children with minor or symptom-free medical or genetic conditions (for example, traits that do not affect their day-to-day health or development) can take part.
- Parents must be between 21 and 65 years old at the time of consent. Mothers and fathers who consider themselves to have a major caregiving role are eligible. Parents who have been hospitalized for more than two weeks (inclusive) within the past 6 months and/or have had any in-patient mental health treatment within the past 6 months may not participate, nor may parents with notable neurodegenerative diagnosis such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or Huntington's disease.
- Participants must be from families earning near to Singapore's median household income or below, provided recruitment and enrollment difficulties have not triggered a pre-defined rule leading to the omission of this requirement. Parents and children must be able to communicate in English, Mandarin, Bahasu Melayu, and/or Tamil. Participants must also be willing to be audio-video recorded and amenable to random assignment.
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Interventions
The VIPP-SD-SingH is an adaptation of the seven session home-visiting VIPP-SD program. During the first six VIPP-SD sessions the parent-child dyad will be asked to take part in certain activities together while being recorded. During sessions 2-7 the parent will watch the prior sessions's videos and receive frequent (e.g., 10-30 second) feedback ( e.g., focusing on children's perspectives, awareness of attachment and explorative child behavior, tips for sensitive discipline, and back-and-forth behavior). The VIPP-SD-SingH will include some adjustments for local language use and VIPP-SD compatible stimulation for reflections on tips and activities that allow greater generalization of the VIPP-SD principles to physical health contexts (e.g., waiting to eat a snack, using toys that encourage movement, or activities that may encourage relaxation).
CARE-SD, Caregiver Awareness of Relationships through E-learning for Sensitivity and Discipline 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. As with the VIPP-SD-SingH, CARE-SD's design includes seven sessions with scenarios and comments for generalizability to physical activity, feeding, and relaxation. After watching each of the videos in sessions 2-7, parents will be asked to try out the activities they've viewed with their own child. Instructions and suggestions for materials will be provided as will be questions for reflection.
NeuroEducation for Parents was designed as a seven session online program for parents containing informational videos about young children's Brain Basics, Seven Senses, Learning and Memory, Emotion, Curiosity and Creativity, Thinking, and Friendships. Sensitive caregiving is not discussed explicitly. Each session will end with a short video quiz, complete with answers. Additional optional written material will be provided for parents who wish to learn more.
Locations(5)
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NCT07687524