Carl Dunst

• Senior Researcher at Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute

The language intervention model developed and evaluated at the Center on Everyday Child Language Learning (CECLL) is described. The model includes 4 components: interest-based child learning opportunities, the everyday family and community activities that are sources of interest-based child learning, the methods for increasing child participation i...

Coaching is considered a recommended practice in early childhood intervention (ECI) programs for promoting practitioners' and parents' use of ECI practices. This review of the coaching literature focused on (a) identification of the core features of ECI coaching and (b) whether there is agreement in the literature about ECI core coaching features....

Background. Family social support from informal and formal social network members provides parents and other primary caregivers the time and psychological energy to carry out child-rearing responsibilities. Objective. Conduct a meta-analysis of family social support studies to evaluate the associations between informal and formal family social supp...

(1) Background: Family systems theories include assertations that both personal and environmental factors are determinants of parents’ psychological health, well-being, and parenting quality. Applied family systems theories focus on determinants that can be operationalized as intervention practices. The analyses described in this paper focused on t...

Parent involvement in early childhood intervention (ECI) is considered an important component of recommended ECI practices. However, how parents are involved in their child's early intervention differs considerably between ECI practitioners. Current research indicates that practitioners' competence and confidence appraisals influence the use of ECI...

Background: Although the COVID-19 pandemic led to a series of governmental policies and regulations around the world, the effect of these policies on access to and provision of rehabilitation services has not been examined, especially in low and middle- income countries. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of governmental poli...

The foundations of an applied family social systems theory for explaining the multiple determinants of child well-being, learning, and development, parenting beliefs, behavior and practices, and family well-being are described. The theory is derived from tenets of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and other social, family, and contextualiz...

Available at: https://www.puckett.org/FSS_Parenting_SR.pdf The systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between perceived family social support and parenting stress, caregiving burden, parenting beliefs, and parenting behavior and practices (Dunst, 2022b) evaluated basic tenets of Bronfenbrenner's contentions about parents' abilitie...

Coaching caregivers of young children on the autism spectrum is a critical component of parent-mediated interventions. Little information is available about how providers implement parent coaching for children on the autism spectrum in publicly funded early intervention systems. This study evaluated providers’ use of parent coaching in an early int...

Dunst, C. J. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between family social support and parenting stress, burden, beliefs and practices. ABSTRACT: This paper includes the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationships between perceived family social support and parenting stress, caregiving burden, parent engag...

Findings from a research synthesis of the relationships between family needs and parent, family, and child functioning are reported. The synthesis included 31 studies conducted in 12 different countries. The studies were conducted between 1987 and 2021 and included 4,543 participants. Eight different family needs scales or adaptations of the scales...

Aceptoci6n: 0l i l0/201 I ABSTRACI The manner in which infant, toddler, and preschooier inclusion in community activi-ti". t m associated with caregivers'judg-ments of their children's as r't'ell as their own behavior was the {ocus of analysis' The parliciPants urere 1454 parents of preschotll-ug"d chiidt"t, with and u'ithout disabilities oi develo...

The birth and rearing of a child with a developmental disability or chronic medical condition is often a stressful life event for parents. Family system theory includes the tenet that the presence of family strengths, resources, and supports can buffer parents and other primary caregivers from the adverse effects of stressful life events. The aim o...

Perceived social support is a robust predictor of individuals' psychological health. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the relationships between perceived family social support and five dimensions of psychological health of parents and other primary caregivers of children and adolescents with and without developmental disabilities...

Objective: The purposes of the meta-analysis were to evaluate the relationship between family hardiness and different dimensions of parent and family functioning in households experiencing adverse child or family life events and circumstances and determine if family hardiness had either or both stress-buffering and healthenhancing effects on parent an...

This meta-analysis includes evaluations of the relationships between the adequacy of family resources and seven dimensions of personal, family, and child well-being. Adequacy of family resources was expected to be related to enhanced positive well-being and attenuated negative well-being. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the Family Resource S...

Findings from a meta-analysis of studies investigating the relationships between family strengths and personal and family well-being and functioning are reported. The research synthesis included 33 studies conducted in six countries of 8259 study participants. The Family Strengths Scale developed by David Olson and his colleagues was used to measur...

Background: Positive psychology considers human strengths the intersection between positive life experiences and healthy functioning. Little evidence exists to support or refute the contention that family strengths are the intersection between positive family life experiences and healthy family functioning. Aims: The purpose of this meta-analysis...

Positive psychology considers human strengths the intersection between positive life experiences and healthy functioning. Little evidence exists to support or refute the contention that family strengths are the intersection between positive family life experiences and healthy family functioning. This paper includes the results of a meta-analysis of...

ABSTRACT Aims: To describe the development of the Arabic-Parent Nutritional Assessment Scale (A-PNAS), and to examine construct and knowngroup discriminant validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the A-PNAS. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants were 130- children with CP (mean age ¼ 4.26 ± 3.29 years) who...

This meta-analysis includes an evaluation of the relationships between the adequacy of family resources and four parenting measures (beliefs, burden, engagement, and practices). Adequacy of family resources was hypothesized to be positively related to parenting beliefs, engagement, and practices and negatively related to parenting burden. Studies w...

Objective: Evaluate the relationships between five family strengths dimensions (commitment, communication, cohesion, coping & competence) and personal and family well-being. Background: Noted family strengths experts contend that families who describe themselves as strong share a number of broad qualities or traits. Family strengths are viewed as...

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationships between child participation in parent interest-based and parent ability-based everyday activities, parenting efficacy beliefs. and child well-being. A strengths-based positive psychology framework was used to guide the conduct of the study and to posit hypothesized relationships among the s...

Findings from two studies investigating the relationships between two types of family-centred practices (relational and participatory) and parent involvement in early childhood intervention are described. We tested the hypothesis that participatory practices would be more strongly related to parent involvement compared to relational practices becau...

Findings from research syntheses of adult learning and in-service training studies identified the importance of professional development as a factor influencing practitioner use of recommended and evidence-based intervention practices. These relationships were used to test the hypothesis that practice-specific evidence-based capacity-building profe...

Background: Parent-mediated early interventions (EI) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can result in significant improvements in children's cognitive ability, social functioning, behavior, and adaptive skills, as well as improvements in parental self-efficacy and treatment engagement. The common component to efficacious parent-media...

A survey of 955 early childhood practitioners in one Midwestern state was conducted to assess judgments of their desired use versus their current use or implementation of 10 sets of recommended practices from the Division for Early Childhood of the Council of Exceptional Children. Practitioners from early intervention, preschool, preschool special...

Findings from a meta-analysis of meta-analyses of 14 different types of preservice student and beginning teacher preparation practices are described. The research synthesis included 118 meta-analyses and 12 other research studies of preservice practices-preservice student and beginning teacher outcomes. The research reports included between 5000 an...

Background: Research evidence from studies in North America on the relationships between family-centered practices, parents' self-efficacy beliefs, parenting confidence and competence beliefs, and parents' psychological well-being was used to confirm or disconfirm the same relationships in two studies in Spain. Aims: The aim of Study 1 was to de...

span>Findings from a synthesis of technical assistance models and frameworks were used to code the use of 25 core elements of technical assistance in studies and evaluations of implementation interventions to affect program, organization, and systems change. The 25 core elements were group into five components: preparation for the provision of tech...

A review of 25 technical assistance models and frameworks was conducted to identify the core elements of technicalassistance practices. The focus of analysis was on generally agreed upon technical assistance practices that wereconsidered essential for planning, implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical assistance. Resultsindicated...

The analyses described in this paper permitted an evaluation of whether capacity-building professional development practices were related to early childhood intervention practitioners’ reported use of capacity-building family-centered practices. This was ascertained by structural equation modeling for two different types of family-centered practice...

Enhancing services utilization for children with cerebral palsy is a national priority particularly in middle and low income countries. Based on Andersen’s (1995) Behavioral Model of Health Services Use and previous research findings, a conceptual model was developed to identify child, family, and service determinants of utilization of services by...

Results from a study of the relationship between different kinds of professional development supports and early childhood practitioners' use of 10 types of recommended early intervention/early childhood special education practices are reported. The participants were 955 practitioners employed in early intervention, preschool, preschool special educ...

Results from a metasynthesis of the relationships between 14 different types of preservice teacher preparation practices and teaching quality, preschool to university student performance, and university student and beginning teacher belief appraisals are reported. Each type of preservice practice (e.g., course-based student learning) included diffe...

Knowledge of the types of school-based practices parents consider important for their children and themselves are the foundations for improving school-family relationships. Surveys were used to determine parents' (1) desire for family-centered practices, individualized and developmentally appropriate child practices, and integrated and coordinated...

Abstract The purpose of the analyses described in this report was to evaluate both the effects of two contrasting approaches to parent-provided child learning opportunities and the direct and indirect effects on both proximal and distal parent social-affective behavior and verbal appraisals. The participants were 71 children with significant develo...

Aim: To determine whether a collaborative intervention process facilitates parent-therapist interactions. Methods: Participants were 18 children with physical disabilities, their mothers, and 16 physical therapists. Therapists randomized to the experimental group were instructed in strategies for collaboration (working together) with parents in...

Background: Early childhood intervention (ECI) centres in Spain recently initiated a process of change towards the adoption of family-centred practices (FCPs). Knowledge about the extent to which practitioners' use FCPs is needed. The psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the FCPs scale were examined. Method: A convenience sample of...

Aim: The purpose of the study was to isolate the sources of variations in the rates of response-contingent learning among young children with multiple disabilities and significant developmental delays randomly assigned to contrasting types of early childhood intervention. Method: Multilevel, hierarchical linear growth curve modelling was used to...

The meta-analysis described in this paper evaluated the relationships between 11 types of leadership practices and 7 organizational, teaming, leader, and employee outcomes. A main focus of analysis was whether the leadership practices were differentially related to the study outcomes. Studies were eligible for inclusion if the correlations between...

Esta investigação pretende analisar a perceção das famílias quanto às práticas utilizadas pelos profissionais e os resultados parentais asociados, sendo um estudo de natureza quantitativa, do tipo exploratório-descritivo, correlacional e comparativo, tendo recurso a questionário, com análises descritivas e inferenciais. O instrumento de recolha de...

This chapter includes analyses of the relationships between informal and formal home and family early numeracy learning experiences and preschool children’s mathematics performance. The research synthesis consisted of 13 samples of children between 36 and 84 months of age (Median age = 69 months). The 13 samples comprised more than 5000 children an...

The research evidence for early childhood intervention practices performance checklists is described. Performance checklists include lists of the tasks or steps required to complete a practice competently. The checklists were developed using a conceptualization-operationalization-measurement framework where findings from research syntheses and empi...

Aims: To examine the effects of a four-step collaborative intervention process on parent and child outcomes and describe parents' and therapists' experiences. Methods: Eighteen children with physical disabilities, their mothers, and 16 physical therapists participated. Therapists randomized to the experimental group were instructed in the collab...

Results from four early childhood practitioner field tests of performance checklists and early intervention practice guides are reported. Findings from the first field test were used to make changes and improvements in the checklists and practice guides evaluated in the second and third field tests, and findings from the latter two field tests were...

Findings from three field-tests of parents’ ratings of early childhood intervention practice guides are reported. Results from the first field-test were used to inform changes to the practice guides in the second field-test, and results from the second field-test were used to inform changes to the practice guides in the third field-test. Parents’ j...

p> Relationships between family socioeconomic status and ethnicity, acculturation and enculturation, and parent beliefs about desired child behavior, child learning methods, and parenting roles in children’s learning desired behavior were examined in a study of 207 parents of preschoolers from seven ethnic and cultural groups. Different subgroups o...

Aims: The purpose of the analyses described in this paper was to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of two different approaches to child response-contingent learning on rates of child learning and both concomitant and collateral child social-emotional behaviour. Method: The participants were 71 children with significant developmental delay...

A conceptualization-operationalization-measurement framework is described for developing evidence-informed early childhood intervention performance checklists. Performance checklists include lists of practice indicators where the indicators, taken together, operationally define particular types of intervention practices that, when used as intended,...

Findings from three field tests evaluations of early childhood intervention practitioner performance checklists and three parent practice guides are reported. Forty-two practitioners from three early childhood intervention programs reviewed the checklists and practice guides and made (1) social validity judgments of both products, (2) judgments of...

Early childhood intervention practitioners (N = 42) reviewed three early intervention performance checklists and three intervention practice guides and made social validity judgments of the acceptability and importance of the products. Both the checklists and practice guides included evidence-based characteristics and indicators that are known to...

Findings from a randomized control design efficacy trial of an asset-based vs. needs-based approach to the response-contingent learning of infants and toddlers with significant developmental delays and disabilities who did not use instrumental behavior to produce or elicit reinforcing consequences are reported. The investigation included 71 childre...

Introduction This paper includes a description of an intervention model and research on the effectiveness of the model and associated practices that used child interest-based participation in everyday activities as sources of communication and language learning opportunities. Methodology The intervention included four components: (a) interest-base...

The chapter includes the description of a framework for categorizing four types of studies (group design, single subject design, correlational, case studies) and four types of literature reviews (narrative, summative, systematic, meta-analysis) for conducting research syntheses which focus on the identification of the key characteristics of early c...

This chapter includes an overview of the history of family-centered practices, the role family support principles and value statements have played in the evolution of a family-centered approach to working with families, the manner in which investigators have developed behavior indicators of family-centered practices, and how the use of family-cente...

A family-level, needs-based model of assessment and intervention is described. The model includes three major components: specification of family needs, identification of sources of support and resources to meet needs, and staff roles in helping families access resources from their support networks. The importance of a broader-based, social systems...

Findings from a randomized controlled design study of an ability-based versus needs-based approach to response-contingent learning among children with significant developmental delays and disabilities who did not use instrumental behavior to produce reinforcing consequences are reported. The ability-based intervention and needs-based intervention d...

The relationships between cumulative family risk factors and American students' academic performance were examined in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. Data from the 2007 American Community Survey were used to ascertain the percent of birth to 18 year old children in the United States who experienced three or more risk factors. The outcom...

Purpose: Although research supports family-professional collaboration, challenges to implementation have been reported. The case reports describe the implementation of a 4-step practice model that incorporates specific strategies to facilitate family-professional collaboration. Method: The participants were two mothers of children with physical...

A model for designing and implementing evidence-based in-service professional development in early childhood intervention as well as the key features of the model are described. The key features include professional development specialist (PDS) description and demonstration of an intervention practice, active and authentic job-embedded practitioner...

The effectiveness of different types of adult learning practices for promoting practitioner and parent use of different kinds of assistive technology and adaptations with young children of 18–105 months of age was the focus of a research synthesis described in this chapter. Six operationally defined adult learning methods and between two and five p...

Factors associated with Head Start staff participation in a classroom-based professional development project to promote their use of evidence-based child learning opportunity practices and evidence-based responsive teaching procedures were examined in a study of 36 teachers and teacher assistants in 19 different classrooms. The factors constituting...

The language intervention model developed and evaluated at the Center on Everyday Child Language Learning (CECLL) is described. The model includes 4 components: interest-based child learning opportunities, the everyday family and community activities that are sources of interest-based child learning, the methods for increasing child participation i...

The effects of socioenvironmental conditions that impede or undermine development (risk factors) and the conditions that promote or enhance development (opportunity factors) were examined in a study of 192 mothers and their one-year-old children. The outcomes constituting the focus of investigation were maternal psychological well-being (positive a...

Abstract Background Knowledge about family support systems available for Jordanian families of children with cerebral palsy (CP) is limited due to the lack of culturally valid measures of family support. The psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Family Support Scale (A-FSS) were examined. Methods Parents of 115 children with CP who w...

More than 1,800 early intervention practitioners serving birth to 3 year old children and preschool special education practitioners serving 3 to 5 year old children made self-judgments of their competence and confidence in using six different kinds of practices (family-centered practices, teaming and collaboration, assessment and evaluation, IFSPs...

Parents of young children participating in either Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C early intervention or IDEA Part B-619 preschool special education programs were surveyed to obtain a consumer science perspective of the practitioners who were the children’s primary service providers. Parents were asked to make judgments of...