June, 2007
Poster Presentation to NCFL Conference:
Predictors of Parents’ Sense of Satisfaction with the Experience of Reading to Their Children
Authors: David G. Daniel, MD and Lisa Lubick-Daniel, MPP
INTRODUCTION: Potential interventions that might increase measures of participation in reading activities to younger children are insufficiently understood. A pilot study was conducted to explore methods of increasing the time that parents read to their children 9 years of age or younger. It was hypothesized that self reported positive associations with the reading experience would be associated with increased reading time to children. Factors that contribute to satisfaction with the reading experience were hypothesized to be potential mechanisms of intervention to increase the amount of time parents read to their children.
METHOD: 22 parents (17 females and 4 males; mean age 38; all having at least an associate college degree) completed a written survey of measures addressing frequency and duration of reading time to their children, frequency of library visits, numbers of childrens’ books in the home, satisfaction with their reading experience, perceptions of their childrens’ satisfaction with their reading experience and measures of childrens’ independent reading behavior. All questions specifically targeted children 9 years of age or less. When there were multiple children nine years of less information was gathered on each child and the child who received the greatest amount of reading related behavior utilized for this analysis.
The primary hypothesis was that measures of frequency and duration of reading related behavior of parents to children would be correlated with measures of measures of parental satisfaction with the reading experience.\
A composite measure of parental reading to children related behavior (“Reading Index”) was created by summing scores of three items. Each items was answered by the parent filling in a blank with an integer.
- Average hours per week reading to children 9 years or younger over the last 3 months;
- Typical length per reading session;
- Estimate of number of children’s books in the home
A “Satisfaction Index” was created by summing the scores of six items on a Likert-like scale ranging from 1 (extremely satisfied) to 7 (extremely dissatisfied):
- Parental satisfaction with the amount of time reading to children;
- Parental satisfaction with the content of materials read to children;
- Parental satisfaction with their own level of enjoyment from reading to their children;
- Parental satisfaction with their children’s enjoyment of parental reading to children;
- Parental satisfaction with their children’s reading ability
- Parental satisfaction with their children’s interest in reading.
All analyses utilized the Number Cruncher Statistical System (NCSS).
Relationships between variables were explored with Spearman’s Rank Order Coefficient.
RESULTS: Measures of reading time to children, visits to the library and number of books in the home were not statistically significantly positively associated with either measures of the parental satisfaction with the reading experience nor with measures of parental perceptions of the quality of the child’s reading experience.
DISCUSSION: In the current exploratory analysis measures of parental satisfaction with the reading experience were not associated with the actual reading time or associated measures of parental behavior of reading to children . Therefore no opportunities for intervention were identified.
The small sample size and the possibility of reporting bias limit the conclusions that may be drawn from this initial analysis of this pilot study.
Additional analyses will consider more sophisticated statistics including multi-variate analysis. In addition, an exploration of the effects of the match or mismatch between topics of parent and child reading material will be explored in respect to parental and child satisfaction with parental reading to children as well as quantitative measures of reading behavior.