Elsevier

Ambulatory Pediatrics

Volume 7, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 45-50
Ambulatory Pediatrics

Brief report
Reading and literacy
Attitudes About Shared Reading Among At-Risk Mothers of Newborn Babies

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ambp.2006.10.004Get rights and content

Objective

Attitudes about shared reading among at-risk mothers of newborn babies have not been the focus of previous study. Better understanding of factors associated with these attitudes would facilitate pediatricians’ provision of anticipatory guidance. We sought to assess sociodemographic correlates of attitudes regarding and resources available for shared reading among multiethnic, low socioeconomic status (SES) mothers of newborns.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional analysis of consecutive mother-infant dyads enrolled during the postpartum period onto an urban public hospital. Dependent variables were attitudes and resources related to shared reading with infants. Independent variables were family sociodemographics, reading difficulties, and social risks.

Results

A total of 211 mother-newborn dyads were assessed; 23.7% reported not planning to look at books together until 12 months or later, 42.2% reported no baby books in the home, and 19.9% reported concerns about shared reading. In multiple logistic regression analyses, independent significant associations with not planning to share books together in infancy were lower maternal education, not speaking English, and firstborn. Independent significant associations of not having baby books were not speaking English, firstborn, and perceived difficulty reading in their native language.

Conclusions

Many at-risk mothers of newborn babies do not report plans to read in infancy and do not have appropriate books in the home. Consideration should be given to universal provision of early anticipatory guidance addressing shared reading, either during the postpartum period or during initial well-child care visits.

Section snippets

Study Sample

This was a cross-sectional analysis of mother-infant dyads enrolled onto a longitudinal study of early child development. Consecutive enrollment of eligible dyads occurred from November 2005 to August 2006 in the postpartum unit of Bellevue Hospital Center, an urban public hospital serving at-risk families. Inclusion criteria were: intention to receive pediatric care at Bellevue, language English or Spanish, no medical complications, no Early Intervention eligibility. Written informed consent

Study Sample

A total of 293 mother-newborn dyads met eligibility criteria, of whom 211 (72.1%) were enrolled and 82 (27.9%) refused. Descriptive information is provided in Table 1. Fifty families (23.7%) did not report plans to read to their child in infancy. Eighty-nine (42.2%) did not report baby books in the home. Forty-two (19.9%) reported concerns about effective shared reading, including child care (3.3%), work or school (4.7%), household chores (4.3%), insufficient time (2.8%), illness or fatigue

Discussion

In this study, almost 25% of mothers of newborns delivering in an urban public hospital did not report plans to read books to their child in his or her infancy, and more than 40% did not have baby books in their homes. Mothers without plans to share books in infancy or baby books at home tended to have lower education and SES, firstborns, perceived reading difficulties, and not speak English. With the exception of SES, each of these retained significance after adjustment for potential

Acknowledgments

This study was performed with the support of National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)-funded R01 “Promoting Early School Readiness in Primary Health Care” (R01 HD047740-02). We thank members of our project team for their work related to this study, including Virginia Flynn, Gilbert Foley, Leyla Almanza Peek, Jessica Urgelles, Margaret Wolff, and Brenda Woodford. We also thank our colleagues at the New York University Steinhardt School

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