This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org/
Type of Maltreatment: Physical abuse
Target Population: All mothers of new infants and society in general in their understanding of early infant crying and shaken baby syndrome
Brief Description:
Period of Purple Crying has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Prevention (Secondary). This shaken baby syndrome prevention program educates parents and caretakers on normal infant crying, the most common trigger for shaking an infant. The letters in PURPLE stand for the common parts of non-stop crying in infants:
Peak pattern (crying peaks around 2 months, then decreases)
Unpredictable (crying for long periods can come and go for no reason)
Resistant to soothing (the baby may keep crying for long periods)
Pain-like look on face
Long bouts of crying (crying can go on for hours)
Evening crying (baby cries more in the afternoon and evening)
The program also contains a public media component aimed at changing cultural attitudes about crying, especially inconsolable crying.
Provisional feedback form not available in printout. Please access the website to use the form.
Period of Purple Crying was not designed to be conducted in a group.
Period of Purple Crying has not been tested for use in a group setting.
Recommended intensity: Three 5-10 minute “doses”: 1. In the maternity ward, given separately from other materials; 2. Either pre- or post- birth as a second “dose” (e.g. in prenatal classes, and in the first pediatric office visit); 3. Via media campaign.
Recommended duration: Through the three contacts, the duration of the program is at least a week and can last much longer since a key element of the program is that each parent receives a copy of the DVD and booklet to take home with them. This way they can refer to the DVD again when the infant is crying, and show it to other temporary caregivers.
Period of Purple Crying does not include a homework component.
Period of Purple Crying is typically conducted in a(n): Birth Family Home and Hospital.
Period of Purple Crying was designed with a Parent Component.
Period of Purple Crying addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms: Parents of a newborn
Period of Purple Crying was not designed with a Child Component.
Period of Purple Crying was not developed for children with developmental delays.
Period of Purple Crying has not been tested for children with developmental delays.
Period of Purple Crying was not designed for specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
Period of Purple Crying was not tested in specific racial/ethnic/cultural groups.
There is a manual that describes how to implement this program.
There is training available for Period of Purple Crying.
Training contact: National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome (NCSBS), 801-627-3399, purple@dontshake.org
Number of days/hours: 1 to 3 hours depending on need.
Training is obtained: Onsite training determined by need.
There currently are not additional qualified resources for training.
The typical resources for implementing Period of Purple Crying are: Materials provided by the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and Internet access.
There are no educational requirements, but the provider must take the training online or in person and be in a position where they have authority to give programs to new parents. The provider should protect the fidelity of the program by complying with the protocol required.
The practice lacks adequate published, peer-reviewed research to empirically determine efficacy; however, it was identified by the topical expert as a program being used in this area, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers.
There are currently no published research studies on Period of Purple Crying.
Barr, R.G., Trent, R.B., & Cross, J. (2006). Age related incidence curve of hospitalized Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases: Convergent evidence for crying as a trigger to shaking. Child Abuse and Neglect, 30, 7-16.
Lee, C., Barr, R.G., Catherine, N., & Wicks, A. (2007). Age-related incidence of publicly reported Shaken Baby Syndrome cases: Is crying a trigger for shaking? Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 28(4), 288-293.
Barr, R.G. (2006). Crying behaviour and its importance for psychosocial development in children. In: Tremblay R.E., Barr R.G., Peters R.D., eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, 1-10. Available at: http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/BarrANGxp.pdf. Accessed [2.14.08].
Contact name: Marilyn Barr, Founder and Executive Director
Affiliation/Agency: National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome
Email: mbarr@dontshake.org
Phone: 801-627-3399
Fax: 801-627-3321
Website: http://www.dontshake.org