PFL Evaluation Team at the UCD Geary Institute. (2012). Preparing For Life early childhood intervention: Assessing the impact of Preparing For Life at six months [Study 2: Non-experimental design]. Dublin, Ireland: UCD Geary Institute.
| Screening decision | Screening conclusion | HomVEE procedures and standards version |
|---|---|---|
| Passes screens | Eligible for review | Version 2 |
| Rating | Design | Attrition | Baseline equivalence | Compromised randomization | Confounding factors | Valid, reliable measure(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indeterminate | Non-experimental comparison group design | Not applicable | Indeterminate |
No | No |
Yes |
The manuscript describes two studies: a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a non-experimental design (NED) using a matched comparison group. This review addressed the findings of the NED. The review of the RCT is addressed under Doyle et al. (2017; Study 1).
The NED receives an indeterminate rating. That means HomVEE reviewers lacked sufficient information on one or more features of the study design required to receive a rating of moderate or high. A rating of indeterminate is not a statement about the quality of the research or the research design. This manuscript receives an indeterminate rating because HomVEE was unable to determine whether the intervention and comparison groups were equivalent on race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status in the analyzed sample at baseline.
Information on how certain measures were constructed and their reliability, information to satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement for findings with high attrition, and information on the regression imputation method were based on correspondence with the author. Findings about mothers’ civic engagement, partnership status, household size, the presence of grandparents, whether the mother was breastfed herself as a baby, and whether the mother knows the baby’s weight are ineligible for review because they do not fall in one of HomVEE’s eligible outcome domains. Measures of the fathers’ income, education, and employment status are ineligible for review because HomVEE does not review measures of family self-sufficiency for the father, unless the manuscript clearly indicates that the father resides in the household.
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: None found. SocialScienceRegistry.org Identifier: None found. Registry of Efficacy and Effectiveness Studies Identifier: None found. Study registration was assessed by HomVEE for Clinicaltrials.gov beginning with the 2014 review, and for other registries beginning with the 2021 review.