Relations among home visit quality, parent-child interactions, and children’s outcomes

Abstract

Home visiting programs are designed to improve young children’s developmental outcomes and overall health and well-being. The purpose of many early childhood home visiting programs is to support high quality parent–child interactions as the central mechanism for supporting children’s healthy development. For this study, data from home visits with 275 families (across 66 home visitors during a five year period) were coded to rate the quality of home visitors’ practices and family engagement using the Home Visit Observation Rating Scales-Adapted and Extended (HOVRS-A+; Roggman et al., 2010). Parent and child interactions and child developmental outcomes were measured when children were under one year of age and again at age 2. Parental practices and engagement ratings, along with child and family characteristics, were examined as predictors of the quality of the parent–child interactions and the children’s developmental outcomes. Although home visitor practices did not predict parent–child interaction quality or the children’s developmental outcomes, results did show that parent engagement during home visits, quality of parent–child interactions, and changes in interaction quality did predict a variety of child developmental outcomes. The important influence of parents’ engagement, both with their children across time and during home visit activities, is discussed, as well as the need to strengthen professional development for home visitors to facilitate parent–child interactions and collaborate with families.