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Parent-child interactions during joint reading play an important role in young children's cognitive and language development. However, contemporary digital book formats---such as e-books or audiobooks---often overlook the role of the parent in reading the text, by either dubbing voice narration over it or reading it aloud automatically. With the advancement and prevalence of voice-based conversational artificial intelligence (AI) agents, AI reading an e-book emerges as a novel reading experience, yet reducing the role of parents in the reading process similarly. When the reading experience becomes less of a joint activity between children and parents, the potential benefits children can gain from reading may diminish. In this study involving 11 parent-child pairs, we aimed to explore how voice agents (VAs) could be used to create an interactive digital space to 1) promote parental engagement in joint e-book reading with children and 2) enhance parents' and children's joint reading experiences. We developed and evaluated TaleMate, an interactive joint reading app that allows parents and children ages 3-6 years to assign different AI voices to the characters from a book while enabling parents to embody one of the characters to read the book with the voice agents. We found that the system supported children's engagement and story comprehension. Parents reported that they found value in the interactivity of the system and enjoyed a participatory, joint reading experience, where both they and their children could choose which characters to embody. These findings offer insights into design considerations for researchers interested in developing applications that facilitate collaborative reading experiences involving parents, children, and voice agents. / Master of Science / In today's digital age, the traditional practice of joint reading between parents and children is evolving. E-books and voice agents (VAs) are becoming more prevalent, but often reduce parental involvement in the reading process, potentially diminishing the benefits for children's cognitive and language development. This study introduces "TaleMate," an innovative app designed to enhance the joint reading experience. TaleMate allows parents and their children (ages 3-6) to engage interactively by assigning roles and voice agents to different characters in a story. Our research involved 11 parent-child pairs, focusing on evaluating the app's ability to maintain parental engagement and improve the reading experience. The findings reveal that TaleMate effectively supports children's engagement and story comprehension while providing a more interactive and enjoyable reading experience for both parents and children. This exploratory study suggests that digital reading formats, when designed thoughtfully, can successfully incorporate voice agents to not only preserve but enhance the valuable interactions in joint reading sessions.

Using a mixed methodology, the effectiveness of an 8-week modification of Landreth's (1991) 10-week group filial therapy training model was investigated with parents (n = 5) court-ordered for remedial parenting services due to physical abuse and/or neglect of their school-age children. A comparison group (n = 3) concurrently received an 8-week parent education course. Three primary questions were explored. Do filial therapy group participants demonstrate a greater decrease in child physical abuse potential and parenting stress following training when compared to parent education group participants? In addition, do filial therapy group participants show evidence of stronger parent-child relationships following training when compared to participants in the parent education group? Pre- and post-measures were utilized, and anecdotal and qualitative data were also collected. Following the analysis of both the quantitative and qualitative data, it was determined that the group quantitative results detracted from the richness of the qualitative findings, and the former were subsequently dropped. Instead, individual pre- and posttest quantitative scores, along with the anecdotal data, were compiled to create participant profiles that provided additional descriptive information to the emergent focus group themes. Due to the size of the sample (N = 8), findings were only preliminary and merit further study. Participants demonstrated social desirability in their assessment responses; therefore, it is recommended that qualitative or mixed methodology, as well as multiple measures of each construct, be incorporated to combat this phenomenon in future studies with this population. Results of this study further suggested that there are clinical benefits to utilizing a mixed sample of both court- and self-referred participants. In addition, the court-mandated population is heterogeneous and requires multiple treatment options coupled with screening protocol for appropriate treatment assignment. Future filial therapy research with this population should provide greater support to participants in conducting filial therapy sessions, as well as alternative ways of documenting these sessions. In addition, it is proposed that a combination of individual and group filial therapy models that is longer-term would be more effective with this population than the 8-week model used. / Ph. D.