Project BRISE-Interaction Quality

Sub-project in the Bremen initiative to strengthen early childhood development

The scientific evaluation accompanying the Bremen Initiative to Strengthen Early Childhood Development (BRISE) systematically examines the effects of early childhood support on child development in a long-term study. Early childhood support for children from socio-economically and culturally disadvantaged families serves to prevent disparities in cognitive and social performance. The experience gained from BRISE should help to support policy makers in providing equal opportunities for all children and in promoting, involving and protecting them in their development.

As part of a coordinated support chain, families receive various support services such as ProKind, HIPPY, Opstapje or Lobo. These measures begin even before birth and accompany the children until the end of the first year of primary school. In doing so, existing forms of support integrated into everyday family life are linked with institutional services. The aim of the project is to determine whether, and to what extent, these coordinated support measures improve the educational opportunities of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This sub-project of BRISE, which focuses on the quality of interaction, deals specifically with the influencing factors, characteristics and effects of the quality of learning and stimulation within the family environment, as well as the pedagogical quality in preschools.

Selected publications:

• Then, S., Wolf, K. & Anders, Y. (2024). Familiäre Determinanten des Medienkonsums im ersten Lebensjahr und die Rolle von familienunterstützenden Angeboten. Frühe Bildung, 13(2), 93-102. doi: 10.1026/2191-9186/a000665
• Willard, J. A., Möwisch, D., Attig, M., Enke, S., Iken, P., Samdan, G., Then, S., & Weinert, S. (2026). Patterns of infants’ digital exposure in disadvantaged neighborhoods: Links to the family environment and toddler-age language. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002120