ZEPPELIN – Early childhood intervention

After the baseline data collection in the third month of life, characteristics of the children, parents, parent-child interactions and school class were recorded at annual measurement points around the 1st, 2nd and 3rd birthdays as well as in kindergarten, in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th grades and during the transition to secondary school. The longitudinal study is now being continued as planned with the third follow-up, supported by the SNSF, into the secondary level II.

Results are currently available for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first and third graders. From these, we draw the following conclusions:

• Children in the intervention group receive more stimulation and support in their daily lives at home. Video analyses of play situations show that after one year of intervention, caregivers using PAT interact more sensitively with their children, which has a positive effect on the children's language development. It is crucial that the caregiver is able to correctly recognize the child's needs and respond appropriately. Better stimulation in the intervention group is also associated with higher self-regulation in the children (Neuhauser et al. 2018).
• The biological stress load of three-year-old children was measured using saliva samples. The analyses indicate that the children in the intervention group showed greater resilience to stressors than the children in the control group – which in turn had a positive influence on the children's behavior (Gardini et al. 2020).
• Children from the intervention group show overall more favorable values in terms of cognitive (language development, German, mathematics) and social-emotional (self-regulation and behavioral problems) skills than children from the control group (Schaub et al., 2019, 2021). These effects become fewer and weaker as children reach school age, but the analyses show that children from highly stressed families continue to benefit from early support with PAT well into school age (unpublished results).

The results of the ZEPPELIN study show that early intervention with PAT can contribute to an increase in educational opportunities, especially for children from highly stressed families. In the coming years, we will investigate whether the children who have now grown into adolescents continue to benefit from early childhood support during their transition to secondary school. Furthermore, it will be interesting to see whether the investments made in early education pay off in the longer term in the sense of a return on investment.

• Gardini, E. S., Schaub, S., Neuhauser, A., Ramseier, E., Villiger, A., Ehlert, U., Lanfranchi, A., & Turecki, G. (2020). Methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor promoter in children: Links with parents as teachers, early life stress, and behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 39(5), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001984  
• Neuhauser, A., Ramseier, E., Schaub, S., Burkhardt, S. C. A., Templer, F., & Lanfranchi, A. (2015). Hard to reach families—A methodological approach to early recognition, recruitment, and randomization in an intervention study. Mental Health & Prevention, 3(3), 79-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2015.07.002  
• Neuhauser, A., Ramseier, E., Schaub, S., Burkhardt, S. C. A., & Lanfranchi, A. (2018). Mediating role of maternal sensitivity: Enhancing language development in at-risk families. Infant Mental Health Journal, 39(5), 522-536. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21738  
• Schaub, S., Eberli, R., Ramseier, E., Neuhauser, A., & Lanfranchi, A. (2021). Förderung ab Geburt mit dem Programm «PAT – Mit Eltern Lernen»: Effekte im ersten Kindergartenjahr. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften, 43(2), 285-296. https://doi.org/10.24452/sjer.43.2.8  
• Schaub, S., Ramseier, E., Neuhauser, A., Burkhardt, S. C. A., & Lanfranchi, A. (2019). Effects of Home-Based Early Intervention on Child Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Parents as Teachers in Switzerland. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 48, 173-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2019.03.007 

Previous research phases:

• «ZEPPELIN/M» (feasibility study, 2009-2011)
• «ZEPPELIN 0-3» (main study, SNSF 2011-2014-2016)
• «ZEPPELIN 5-8» (transition to primary school, SNSF 2017-2020)

Aktuelle Forschungsphase:

• «ZEPPELIN 9-13» (transition to secondary school I, 2021-2024, resp. 2026)

In Planung:

• «ZEPPELIN 15-16» (transition to secondary school II, 2027-2028)
• «ZEPPELIN 20» (tertiary stage, 2031-2033).

The SNSF has approved the funding application for the 3rd follow-up, which will support the project financially from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2028.