The Secondary Caregiver Study

Why are we doing this study? The purpose of the Mothers and Preschoolers Study – Caregiver Roles is to find out how family members and friends help mothers raise their children. Dr. Laura Scaramella is in charge of this study. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Orleans.

What do you have to do? A few weeks after our second and third visit to the children’s home, our research team will visit you and the two children participating in the Mothers and Preschoolers Study. These visits will take place where you normally take care of the children. We will call you and set up a time to visit you. The visit takes about 1 hour. If you do not want to do the visit at your home, we can meet in a place of your choice, like the child’s school or a relative’s house.
The visit has two parts. First, we will ask you to answer some questions about your feelings and your experiences. Second, you will play games with the children. We will videotape you and the children playing games and doing different activities. Before we start each visit, we will give you a list of games and activities and tell you about each of them. You can decide not to play any game. If you decide not to play a game, you can still be in the study.

Do I have to participate? No. You may choose not to participate and it won’t affect the children’s participation in the Mothers and Preschoolers study.

Will you be compensated for your time? Yes, you will receive $40 for completing the interview. This money is to compensate you for your time spent working on the project. The children will each get a small toy worth about $5 as a thank you gift.