| By: |
Lopez Garcia, Italo (University of Southern California);
Luoto, Jill E. (University of Southern California);
Aboud, Frances E. (McGill University);
Fernald, Lia C.H. (University of California at Berkeley) |
| Abstract: |
We present results two years after the end of a group-based parenting
intervention tested in a cluster randomized control trial in rural Kenya. The
original program consisted of 16 fortnightly village-based sessions over 8
months and had large positive impacts on children's cognition and parenting
behaviors immediately after its end. Over the next two years, a random half of
intervention villages received a light-touch "booster" intervention to offer
continued yet less intensive program support. With and without the booster
extension, early program impacts were sustained two years later, albeit
smaller in magnitude. Boosters had a small positive added value on parenting
behaviors and children's socioemotional development, despite the interruption
of COVID-19 to their delivery. Sustained impacts on children's development
were strongly mediated by improvements in parenting behaviors, disadvantaged
families accrued the largest benefits, and two years later our program remains
one of the most cost-effective and potentially scalable programs globally to
date. These results point to encouraging paths forward for maximizing the
reach and longer-term effectiveness of early childhood development programs to
improve child development in low-resource remote settings. |
| Keywords: |
parenting intervention, parenting behaviors, early child development, group-based delivery, rural Kenya |
| JEL: |
H43 I10 I20 I38 O15 |
| Date: |
2023–08 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16392&r=neu |