Effectiveness of a community-led shared book reading intervention in Syrian refugee children: A randomised controlled trial

Community-led, shared book reading programs may help improve refugee children’s reading abilities and attitudes towards reading. We Love Reading (WLR) – a light-touch, community-led, shared book reading program – was evaluated in a pre-registered, wait-listed, randomised controlled trial. 322 Syrian refugee mother-child dyads (children: 4-8-year-olds, 50.0% female) in Jordan were tested at two timepoints, 15 weeks apart. WLR did not significantly affect child literacy or child-reported child attitudes toward reading (ps>.05). Mothers did report improved child attitudes toward reading from WLR (p=.046, η2=.013). The intervention did not lead to improvements in family relationships (ps>.05). WLR may have promise in improving attitudes toward reading in forcibly displaced children but did not affect literacy or child-reported attitudes toward reading; these results provide insight into what changes are needed for effective shared book reading interventions in this population.