Supporting Book Sharing Engagement in Latino Toddlers: Child, Caregiver, and Environmental Factors

Abstract

Caregiver–child book sharing is a well-established context for promoting early language and literacy skills; however, little is known about how children with language delays engage in these interactions. This study examined engagement during a 5-minute book sharing session between Spanish-speaking caregivers and their toddlers with language delays. Seventy-five toddlers with bilingual language scores at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean participated. Observations took place in participants’ homes using a standardized set of books. Child engagement was coded in 20-second intervals for the presence of verbal and nonverbal indicators. On average, children were engaged during 72% of intervals, and over 60% were engaged for at least 10 of 15 intervals. Girls were significantly more engaged than boys. Engagement was not significantly associated with bilingual language scores, number of verbal utterances, or conceptual word use. However, more observed challenging behaviors (e.g., crying, throwing books, leaving the room) were related to reduced engagement. Caregiver-reported executive functioning, education level, and household income were not associated with engagement. Among caregiver behaviors, only question-asking was significantly related to engagement for both boys and girls. Matched conversational turns were related to engagement for boys only, while target-level utterances were not significantly associated for either group. Caregiver-reported values about book sharing (e.g., reading frequency, child enjoyment, perceived importance, or viewing book sharing as a target for intervention) were not associated with observed engagement. These findings suggest that, in this population, immediate child behavior and specific caregiver interaction strategies may play a greater role in child engagement than language skills or demographic characteristics. For researchers, results underscore the importance of including behavioral measures of engagement in studies of early book sharing. For practitioners, the findings suggest there may be value in teaching caregivers book sharing strategies that include support for child engagement, such as positively managing challenging behavior and using interactive prompts such as book-focused questions with follow-up comments.