The Panda Study: A Brief Neuroscience-Informed Digital Intervention to Support Caregiver Knowledge, Confidence, and Early Learning Interactions

Caregivers facing socioeconomic adversity encounter persistent structural barriers to accessing evidence-based parenting programs, despite strong evidence that early environments shape developmental trajectories. This thesis introduces and evaluates the PANDA Study, a fully researcher-developed, neuroscience-informed digital parenting intervention built, deployed, and tested independently through a purpose-built web platform. Using a preregistered, mixed-methods design with openly shared data, materials, and analysis code, the study examined caregiver readiness (N = 27) and intervention feasibility (N = 8) across four waves of primary data collection conducted through independent recruitment. Pilot survey results revealed that interest was highest among caregivers with low confidence and substantial structural barriers, indicating strong unmet demand. The intervention achieved 100% retention, and 87.5% of caregivers reported behavioral changes in parent–child interactions. One-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed post-intervention scores significantly elevated above the scale midpoint across all outcomes, with large effect sizes (r = .50–.92). Spearman rank correlations revealed a consistent dose–response pattern: greater days of engagement, time per day, and breadth of materials each predicted higher post-intervention knowledge, confidence, and interaction frequency (ρ = .72–.88). Scale reliability was high (Cronbach’s α = .93; McDonald’s ω = .94). These findings provide preliminary evidence that brief, researcher-developed digital interventions can strengthen caregiver beliefs and everyday practices. Engagement dose, rather than mere exposure, appears to be the critical mechanism linking program participation to outcomes.