A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Effectiveness of the Háblame Bebé Mobile Application With Spanish-Speaking Mothers Experiencing Economic Hardship

Anne L. Larson, Melissa Baralt, Joanna Hokenson, Carol Scheffner Hammer, Tyson Barrett, Nicole Devilbiss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined the effectiveness of a standalone mobile application (app), Háblame Bebé, for use in real-world settings without supplemental human interaction to promote Spanish-speaking mothers’ language interactions with their young children and associated child bilingual (Spanish–English) language development. Method: Thirty-seven Spanish-speaking Latina mothers with lower incomes and their children were randomly assigned to experimental and wait-list control groups for 12 weeks. The experimental group was introduced to the app to learn how to provide language-promoting strategies in the home language and encouraged to use the app to track child vocabulary growth and overall development. Mother and child outcomes were measured before and after intervention via standardized assessments, direct observations, and parent report. Engagement and social validity data were also gathered. Results: No statistically significant differences were identified between experimental and control groups. However, looking at the magnitude of the difference between groups, child outcomes consistently favored the experimental group (d =0.2–0.4). Mothers reported high levels of acceptance of the intervention. Conclusions: Culturally and linguistically responsive app-based interventions have the potential to serve as a unique delivery model for speech-language pathologists and other professionals to share critical information on bilingual language development with parents of young children who are learning in a bilingual context. Clinical and research implications are discussed, including the consider-ation that low-intensity interventions may need to be paired with ongoing parent coaching. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.18461585.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)722-738
Number of pages17
JournalAmerican journal of speech-language pathology
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project was funded in part by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Office of Multicultural Affairs and Utah State University’s Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling. The authors are grateful for the mothers and children who participated in this study—for their trust in welcoming strangers into their homes for the good of expanding knowledge of caregiver-supported bilingual language development in young children. The authors also acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to this work: Madelyn Bingham, Grace Frutos, Molly Hepburn, Hanna Nash, the Háblame Bebé app founders (Melissa Baralt, Ashley Darcy Mahoney, and Natalie Brito), the Talk With Me Baby Leadership Team, and Calvium.

Funding Information:
Correspondence to Anne L. Larson: [email protected]. Disclosure: Anne L. Larson received funding to travel to the ASHA conference as part of this project. She continues to work on research that uses the Háblame Bebé app (with funding from the Institute of Education Science, U.S. Department of Education, Grant R324B200009 to the University of Minnesota, through June 2024) and currently receives a portion of her salary from this project. Having knowledge of the app in a published journal may increase app use; however, no one (including Larson) receives financial compensation related to app use or dissemination. Melissa Baralt is the developer of the Háblame Bebé app. She received funding to travel to the ASHA conference as part of this project. She continues to work on revisions to the app for other research projects and receives grant funding to pay for a portion of her salary on projects that use the app. Having knowledge of the app in a published journal may increase app use; however, no one (including Baralt) receives financial compensation related to app use or dissemination. Carol Scheffner Hammer received funding to travel to the ASHA conference as part of this project. Tyson Barrett will receive funding to work on a research that uses the Háblame Bebé app. Having knowledge of the app in a published journal may increase app use; however, no one (including Barrett) receives financial compensation related to app use or dissemination. The other authors have declared that no other competing financial or nonfinancial interests existed at the time of publication.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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