A day in the life of 12 toddlers: how does parent input vary across activity contexts?

Limited research has investigated the influence of activity context on interaction between parents and children. Existing studies have often used structured, researcher-directed contexts, which limits ecological validity. More recently, interaction during real-life activities has been investigated using naturalistic daylong recordings. However, recordings have not been combined with qualitative data to understand parents’ views about their child’s activities. This is important, as parental input to children varies according to what parents perceive as the purpose of the activity. The study presented investigated variation in parental input across activities, using a novel combination of audio recordings and qualitative interviews.
Twelve typically developing children aged 2 ½ - 4 years old and a parent participated in the study. Recruitment targeted diversity in terms of SES and cultural background, although all children lived in the UK and were English-speaking (7 children also spoke an additional language). Children’s interactions at home over the course of one day were recorded using an automated recording device. Their parent was then interviewed about the day’s activities and their interactions.
Automated recording data showed variation in adult word count (AWC) across the day. Information from parent interviews was used to code the activity context for each extract. The activity with highest AWC was reading, followed by general play and structured play. The lowest AWC occurred during travel, outdoor play and outdoor visits. Parent interviews illustrated the challenge of coding activities, as often multiple activities happened at the same time. In addition, there was variation in terms of the meaning of the activity for different families, especially in relation to play, reading and media consumption. Quantitative results corroborate previous findings about which activities lead to increased parent input, however qualitative results provide a broader picture about the diversity of children’s activities and interactions in real-life contexts.