Parental Beliefs, Investments, and Child Development: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment

Carneiro, Pedro; Galasso, Emanuela; Garcia, Italo Xavier Lopez; Bedregal, Paula; Cordero, Miguel

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3435381

“…Improved mental health can increase a mother's ability to understand the rationale behind better childcare practices and potentially reduce the effort cost associated with implementing the advice. These explanations align with the findings of Carneiro et al (2023), which shows that parenting programs can improve parenting behaviors and the home environment-both crucial factors for early childhood development. Similarly, research suggests a strong relationship between poor maternal mental health and child malnutrition, as poor mental health can affect the "emotional quality of childcare" and that improving maternal mental health can lead to reductions in stunting and wasting among children (Rahman et al, 2004).…”

supporting

confidence: 86%

“…Therefore, in our context, poor mental health can limit the capacity of mothers to provide adequate care and support to their children, as well as affect their willingness to engage in activities with children that promote their cognitive, social, and emotional development, such as reading, playing games, or chanting rhymes. This, as a result, may affect the quality and quantity of parental input that are essential during early childhood (Carneiro et al, 2023). Moreover, children who grow up in households with mentally unhealthy mothers may also experience poor mental health themselves (Bütikofer et al, 2024).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

Islam,

Mozumder,

Rahman

et al. 2024

0

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Forced displacement is a major driver of mental health disorders among refugees globally. The mental well-being of adult refugees, particularly mothers, is widely recognized as a crucial determinant of their children's psychological health and development. In this study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effectiveness of a multifaceted psychosocial program in improving the mental health of refugee mothers, and fostering growth and development among children under the age of two. Collaborating with BRAC, we conducted a cluster RCT involving 3,500 Rohingya mother-child pairs in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Participants received weekly psychosocial support for 44 weeks, facilitated by trained peer volunteers. The program included psychoeducation and parenting guidance for mothers, as well as interactive play activities for both mothers and children. The intervention proved largely successful, resulting in: (i) reductions in the psychological trauma and depression severity among both mothers and children, (ii) improvements in children's communication, gross-motor, and problem-solving skills, and (iii) reductions in the prevalence of stunting and severe stunting among children. At a cost of approximately $1 per dyad per session, the intervention has demonstrated cost-effectiveness and is currently being scaled-up in Bangladesh's refugee camps, bene-

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“…We then introduce a new type of misperception that we argue may be particularly important in our context -that over the comparative advantage of the different actors (in our case, teachers and TAs) in the child development process which can lead to gains from specialization not being fully exploited. Our experimental results add to the growing evidence that interventions targeting misperceptions over the child development process can be effective in both changing investment patterns and improving child development (Carneiro et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Preschool Quality and Child Development

Andrew,

Attanasio,

Bernal

et al. 2024

Journal of Political Economy

3

0

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Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

Islam,

Mozumder,

Rahman

et al. 2024

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Forced displacement is a major driver of mental health disorders among refugees globally. The mental well-being of adult refugees, particularly mothers, is widely recognized as a crucial determinant of their children's psychological health and development. In this study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the effectiveness of a multifaceted psychosocial program in improving the mental health of refugee mothers, and fostering growth and development among children under the age of two. Collaborating with BRAC, we conducted a cluster RCT involving 3,500 Rohingya mother-child pairs in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Participants received weekly psychosocial support for 44 weeks, facilitated by trained peer volunteers. The program included psychoeducation and parenting guidance for mothers, as well as interactive play activities for both mothers and children. The intervention proved largely successful, resulting in: (i) reductions in the psychological trauma and depression severity among both mothers and children, (ii) improvements in children's communication, gross-motor, and problem-solving skills, and (iii) reductions in the prevalence of stunting and severe stunting among children. At a cost of approximately $1 per dyad per session, the intervention has demonstrated cost-effectiveness and is currently being scaled-up in Bangladesh's refugee camps, bene-

show abstract

Parental Beliefs, Investments, and Child Development: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment

Cited by 3 publications

References 34 publications

Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

Preschool Quality and Child Development

Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

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