The Role of Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Variables in Early Childhood Development: A Secondary Data Analysis of the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Introduction: The association between sociodemographic factors, such as poverty, lack of maternal schooling, and being male at birth, and childhood developmental delay and poor educational outcomes has been established in the Dominican Republic. However, moderating factors present or introduced in families to buffer the effects of such factors on childhood development are still unknown. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey for the Dominican Republic, a national household survey focused on maternal and child health and development. The first aim of our study was to determine if a sociodemographic model predicted early childhood development. The second aim was to determine if a psychosocial model (including family childrearing practices, discipline, and early childhood stimulation) predicted early childhood development above and beyond the sociodemographic model. Results: We found that both models predicted childhood development significantly, but that the psychosocial model explained 5% more variance than the sociodemographic model. The most relevant sociodemographic predictors were socioeconomic position and mother's education, which uniquely explained 21% and 17% of the early childhood development variance, respectively. The most salient psychosocial predictors of early childhood development were: 1) attendance to an early childhood education program, which uniquely explained 15.0% of the variance; 2) negative discipline, which uniquely explained 12.4% (negative impact); 3) the number of children's books at home, which uniquely explained 12.0%; and 4) stimulating activities at home, which uniquely explained 5%. Conclusion: These results have multiple implications for social programs that aim to improve children's developmental potential in contexts of poverty. Although the results show a protective effect of psychosocial factors, sustainable and large-scale intervention should not be limited to just buffering effects, but to actually solve the underlying problem which is that poverty prevents children from reaching their developmental potential.