Current Research
Early Childhood Intervention Study
The Early Childhood Intervention Study is a collaborative
effort sponsored by Tennessee Voices for Children (Dr. Matt Timm,
Co-Principal Investigator) and the University of Colorado at Denver
(Dr. Phil Strain, Co-Principal Investigator). Initial funding
was provided by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and
Developmental Disabilities and the Regional Intervention Program
Advisory Committee, Inc. Continued funding has been provided by
the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education
Programs, Research to Practice Division.
The first project phase (1997-2000) evaluated treatment outcomes
for a selected sample of some 200 children and families who had
participated in the Regional Intervention Program (RIP) network
since 1969. The first set of findings from the Early Childhood
Intervention Study has been reported in P.S. Strain and M.A. Timm
(2001), Remediation and prevention of aggression: An evaluation
of the Regional Intervention Program over a quarter century. Behavioral
Disorders, 26, 297-313. (pdf downloads? - BD Article, Data Trends
Summary)
A second project phase (2000-2003), funded by the U.S. Department
of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Research to
Practice, replicated the initial study with a selected sample
of some 150 children and families who have participated in three
selected Regional Intervention Program (RIP) sites in Tennessee
(Columbia, Murfreesboro, Knoxville) since 1975. Overall findings
were very consistent with those obtained in the initial project
for both longer-term (more than 10 years away from RIP) and shorter-term
(3 to 9 years away from RIP) follow-up groups. Both sets of findings
are being are being presented in a full monograph scheduled to
be completed in 2006.
A third project phase (2004-2007), also funded by the U.S. Department
of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Research to
Practice, addresses key environmental events and responses to
these events that enabled RIP programs to sustain themselves for
periods ranging from 7 to 34 years. Fifteen (15) program sites
that implemented RIP's core innovative and research-based practices
for remediating aggression in young children with serious behavioral
disorders in Tennessee, Connecticut, Ohio, and Washington are
being examined in a multiple case study format. Principal concepts
and key empirical indices associated with program development
histories have been distributed across five domains: 1) Innovations,
Adaptations, Alterations; 2) Support Strategies Employed; 3) Planned,
Unplanned Changes; 4) Level of Penetration of Core Innovations;
and, 5) Degree of Consonance/Dissonance of Core Innovations Within
Setting.
Kids in Development Study (KiDS)
Tennessee Voices for Children (TVC), in collaboration with the
Regional Intervention Program (RIP) network, has served as a Kids
in Development Study (KiDS) project site since 2002. Funded by
the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education
Programs, and directed by the Center for Evidence-Based Practice:
Young Children with Challenging Behavior, KiDS is a nationally
based multi-site, longitudinal study designed to learn more about
what makes young children most likely to succeed in school, at
home and socially. The study is intended to add information and
answer important questions about challenging behaviors and mental
health concerns in early childhood. The goal is to assist professionals,
parents and caregivers in providing the most effective and efficient
intervention strategies with children who are presenting challenging
behaviors. Dr. Matt Timm is Senior Investigator and Dr. Jill Chafetz
is Site Coordinator.
KiDS involves families of 244 children identified as having
or at substantial risk for having challenging behaviors. Participating
sites are Lehigh University, University of Colorado at Denver,
University of Kansas/Juniper Gardens Project, University of Florida
at Gainesville, Tennessee Voices for Children, and University
of South Florida at Tampa. Children were between 18-30 months
and 36-48 months at enrollment. The TVC families had participated
in RIP programs in Nashville, Madison, Gallatin, and Franklin.
As of December, 2005, all 38 families enrolled in the TVC site
remained active.
Family visits occur at six month
intervals until the child enters kindergarten. Families receive
an honorarium for each completed visit. Repeated measures include
a Family Profile survey, Pre-School Language Scale-IV (PLS-4),
Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Caregiver and Teacher Report
Form (C-TRF), Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale (TABS),
Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI), Dynamic Indicators
of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Parenting Stress Index
(PSI), Pearlin Self-Efficacy Measure, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale,
Family Resource Scale (FRS), Family Support Scale (FSS), Home
Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME), Infant-Toddler
Rating Scale (ITERS), and Early Childhood Rating Scale (ECERS).
Data collection activities are scheduled to continue through December
31, 2006. Data analysis and presentation of findings activities
are scheduled to continue through December 31, 2007.
"ADHD" Study
Tennessee Voices for Children (TVC), in collaboration with the
Regional Intervention Program (RIP) network, is conducting a longitudinal
follow-up study entitled An Examination of the Relationship Between
Child Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
and Family Completion of the Regional Intervention Program (RIP).
The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office
of Special Education Programs in association with the Center for
Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior
located at the University of South Florida at Tampa. Dr. Matt
Timm is Principal Investigator and Dr. Jill Chafetz is Research
Coordinator.
A baseline "snapshot" of
enrollees indicated that of the 169 families entering the RIP-Nashville
program in fiscal year 2001, 10 target children (5.9%) had received
a formal diagnosis of ADHD prior to enrollment; two target children
(1.2%) had received a formal ADHD diagnosis during enrollment;
and family members or referral agents had expressed suspicions
that ADHD was present for an additional 50 target children (29.6%).
Primary questions to be addressed
in the current study are: 1) What are the relationships between
successful completion of or premature departure from the RIP-Nashville
program and multiple child and family variables including child
and family demographic features, known family risk factors, presenting
problems, referral source, elapsed time between referral and RIP
enrollment, age of child at enrollment, diagnostic history, special
services history, and previous and concurrent child placements?
and, 2) What are the relationships between successful completion
of or premature termination from the RIP-Nashville program and
a formal diagnosis of ADHD received prior to or during RIP enrollment?
Phase 1 of the study has involved
examination of the clinical records for 1,531 families who were
enrolled in the RIP-Nashville program any time between January
1, 1990 and December 31, 2004. Phase II of the study involves
a single interview in 2006 with parents/guardians from a maximum
of 60 families enrolled in the RIP-Nashville program at any time
during the January 1, 1990 through December 31, 2004 period. A
maximum of 30 families (Group A) will be randomly selected from
a pool of an estimated 60 or more families containing a child
who had received a formal diagnosis of ADHD prior to or during
RIP enrollment. A maximum of 30 families (Group B) will be randomly
selected from a second pool of eligible families whose children
had not received a formal ADHD diagnosis prior to or during RIP
enrollment. Each pool of eligible families (Group A and Group
B) will be further distributed across subgroups based on enrollment
date intervals. Data collection activities are scheduled to continue
through June, 30, 2006. Data analysis and presentation of findings
activities are scheduled to continue through June 30, 2007.