PlayReadVIP has been rigorously studied by a world-class team of pediatricians and developmental psychologists

Families
​served

NIH-funded
​RCTs

Peer-reviewed publications

Visits
​​completed

The results are clear. PlayReadVIP leads to large benefits for
children and parents, including

More
Reading, play, and
Parent-child
​interactions

Strengthened
School readiness, attention skills, and parent-child relationships

Reduced
Parenting stress, depressive symptoms, physical punishment, screen time

In addition, findings are sustained for at least
​1 - 2 years after program completion.

New Findings Highlight

New findings recently published in Pediatrics (Miller et al, 2025) demonstrate that guiding parents to pretend play and read aloud with their babies increased parental support of their children’s cognitive development and academic skills by the time they turned six. Increases in cognitive stimulation from video recorded interactions of parents and children playing at age two resulting from PlayReadVIP (in the context of the Smart Beginnings model) in turn resulted in better academic skills when children reached the first grade.

Read the paper here.
View the news clip here.

Our Studies & Projects

The PlayReadVIP National Center research core is part of a thriving research community at
​NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Supporting Parenting in Pediatrics​

• Smart Beginnings: Integrating parenting support into pediatric care to promote early school readiness
• SPARRK: Strengths-based parenting interventions for families affected by the Flint water crisis
• PlayReadVIP and Healthy Steps: Enhancing early relational health to reduce disparities in child development

Addressing Crises & Policy Impact

• NIH (R01): Investigating interventions to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on families
• Congestion Pricing: Examining how urban policies affect family functioning in marginalized communities
• Sustainability: Operationalizing sustainable reimbursement mechanisms for program delivery, supported by the Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund

Reach Across Settings and Populations

• PlayReadVIP in FCC: Adapting PlayReadVIP for Family Child Care centers in the Bronx with the MARC Academy, supported by Robin Hood
• Rural Adaptation: Preventing disparities in child psychosocial development in underserved rural families
• Population Adaptation: Tailoring PlayReadVIP for teenage parents through University Settlement’s Early Head Start program
• APA Collaborative Research Award: Developing a bilingual adaptation of Reach Out and Read (ROR) for Mandarin Chinese- and Spanish-speaking families

​Global & Collaborative Initiatives

• The Pittsburgh Study: Observing early childhood development through a unique multi-site collaboration
• Brazil: BrincarLerVIP em Sala is a program adaptation for Brazilian families and teachers
• Singapore: Implementing early relational health interventions in an international context

Learn about our publications here.
Learn more about StimQ here.
For more information about other research within the NYU Grossman School of Medicine Division of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics here. 

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