Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication difficulties (E-PLAYS-2) trial: study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial evaluating a computerised intervention to promote communicative development and collaborative skills in young children
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Authors
Murphy, SuzanneBell, Kerry
Cook, Erica Jane
Crafter, Sarah
Davidson, Rosemary
Fairhurst, Caroline
Hicks, Kate
Joffe, Victoria
Messer, David
Robinson-Smith, Lyn
Strachan, Leslie
Torgerson, David
Welch, Charlie
Issue Date
2024-05-13Subjects
communication impairmentcomputer games
feasibility study
peer collaboration
pragmatic language
randomised controlled trial
social communication
young children
Subject Categories::B620 Speech Science
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A number of children experience difficulties with social communication and this has long-term deleterious effects on their mental health, social development and education. The E-PLAYS-2 study will test an intervention ('E-PLAYS') aimed at supporting such children. E-PLAYS uses a dyadic computer game to develop collaborative and communication skills. Preliminary studies by the authors show that E-PLAYS can produce improvements in children with social communication difficulties on communication test scores and observed collaborative behaviours. The study described here is a definitive trial to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of E-PLAYS delivered by teaching assistants in schools. The aim of the E-PLAYS-2 trial is to establish the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of care as usual plus the E-PLAYS programme, delivered in primary schools, compared to care as usual. Cluster-randomisation will take place at school level to avoid contamination. The E-PLAYS intervention will be delivered by schools' teaching assistants. Teachers will select suitable children (ages 5-7 years old) from their schools using guidelines provided by the research team. Assessments will include blinded language measures and observations (conducted by the research team), non-blinded teacher-reported measures of peer relations and classroom behaviour and parent-reported use of resources and quality of life. A process evaluation will also include interviews with parents, children and teaching assistants, observations of intervention delivery and a survey of care as usual. The primary analysis will compare pragmatic language scores for children who received the E-PLAYS intervention versus those who did not at 40 weeks post-randomisation. Secondary analyses will assess cost-effectiveness and a mixed methods process evaluation will provide richer data on the delivery of E-PLAYS. The aim of this study is to undertake a final, definitive test of the effectiveness of E-PLAYS when delivered by teaching assistants within schools. The use of technology in game form is a novel approach in an area where there are currently few available interventions. Should E-PLAYS prove to be effective at the end of this trial, we believe it is likely to be welcomed by schools, parents and children. ISRCTN 17561417, registration date 19th December 2022. v1.1 19th June 2023.Citation
Murphy S, Bell K, Cook EJ, Crafter S, Davidson R, Fairhurst C, Hicks K, Joffe V, Messer D, Robinson-Smith L, Strachan L, Torgerson D, Welch C (2024) 'Enhancing Pragmatic Language skills for Young children with Social communication difficulties (E-PLAYS-2) trial: study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial evaluating a computerised intervention to promote communicative development and collaborative skills in young children', BMC psychology, 12 (1), 266Publisher
BMCJournal
BMC psychologyPubMed ID
38741221PubMed Central ID
PMC11090787Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
2050-7283EISSN
2050-7283Sponsors
This project is funded by the National institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme (award number NIHR131745). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/s40359-024-01749-y
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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