Randomized controlled trial of a book-sharing intervention in a deprived South African community: Effects on carer–infant interactions, and their relation to infant cognitive and socioemotional outcome
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Background: Consistent with evidence from high‐income countries ( HIC s), we previously showed that, in an informal peri‐urban settlement in a low‐middle income country, training parents in book sharing with their infants benefitted infant language and attention (Vally, Murray, Tomlinson, & Cooper, ). Here, we investigated whether these benefits were explained by improvements in carer–infant interactions in both book‐sharing and non‐book‐sharing contexts. We also explored whether infant socioemotional development benefitted from book sharing. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Carers of 14–16‐month‐old infants were randomized to 8 weeks’ training in book sharing ( n = 49) or a wait‐list control group ( n = 42). In addition to the cognitive measures reported previously, independent assessments were made at base line and follow‐up of carer–infant interactions during book sharing and toy play. Assessments were also made, at follow‐up only, of infant prosocial behaviour in a ‘help task’, and of infant imitation of doll characters’ nonsocial actions and an interpersonal interaction. Eighty‐two carer–infant pairs (90%) were assessed at follow‐up. (Trial registration ISRCTN 39953901). Results: Carers who received the training showed significant improvements in book‐sharing interactions (sensitivity, elaborations, reciprocity), and, to a smaller extent, in toy‐play interactions (sensitivity). Infants in the intervention group showed a significantly higher rate of prosocial behaviour, and tended to show more frequent imitation of the interpersonal interaction. Improvements in carer behaviour during book sharing, but not during toy play, mediated intervention effects on all infant cognitive outcomes, and tended to mediate intervention effects on infant interpersonal imitation. Conclusions: Training in book sharing, a simple, inexpensive intervention that has been shown to benefit infant cognitive development in a low‐middle income country, also shows promise for improving infant socioemotional outcomes in this context. Benefits are mediated by improvements in carer–infant interactions, particularly in book‐sharing contexts.
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At least one formal mediation analysis showed that improvements in caregiver book-sharing competence associated with training accounted for much of the improvement in child language.
“There has been at least one formal mediation analysis (Murray et al., 2016) that showed how improvements in caregiver book-sharing competence associated with training accounted for much of the improvement in child language.”
From Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Murray et al., 2016
Murray et al. (2016) reported that caregiver sensitivity gains mediated receptive language effects, while caregiver-child reciprocity mediated effects on both expressive and receptive language (and focal attention).
“Murray and colleagues (2016) found that improvements in caregiver sensitivity during book-sharing significantly mediated the impact of the intervention on receptive language, while improvements in caregiver-child reciprocity during book-sharing mediated the impact of the intervention on both child expressive language and receptive language (and child focal attention).”
From Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020) · cites this paper as Murray et al., 2016
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Murray, L., De Pascalis, L., Tomlinson, M., Vally, Z., Dadomo, H., MacLachlan, B., Woodward, C., & Cooper, P. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Department of Psychology University of Reading Reading UK
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- University of Reading (GB)
- University of Parma (IT)
- University of Bath (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Murray, Lynne
- Venue
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2016-07-28
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1370-1379
- ISSN
- 0021-9630 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7610
- PMC
- PMC5659125
- OpenAlex
- W2487442389
- Semantic Scholar
- 53b3eeeef594049065ae3165d7db1b2e6841ba1b
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 30.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- CentAUR (University of Reading) (submittedVersion)
- Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- DG Murray Trust
- Felix Foundation Fellowship
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- book sharing, parent-infant interaction, social-emotional development, infant imitation, infant cognitive development, parent training intervention, low-income communities, peri-urban settlements, Khayelitsha, language development, attention development
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child Development, Cognition, Education, Nonprofessional, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Infant, Male, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Social Behavior, South Africa, Parenting, Infant Behavior
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