TY - JOUR
T1 - Family play, reading, and other stimulation and early childhood development in five low-and-middle-income countries
AU - Cuartas, Jorge
AU - McCoy, Dana
AU - Sánchez, Juliana
AU - Behrman, Jere
AU - Cappa, Claudia
AU - Donati, Georgina
AU - Heymann, Jody
AU - Lu, Chunling
AU - Raikes, Abbie
AU - Rao, Nirmala
AU - Richter, Linda
AU - Stein, Alan
AU - Yoshikawa, Hirokazu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - This paper used longitudinal data from five studies conducted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes (N = 4904; Mage = 51.5; 49% girls). Results from random-effects and more conservative child-fixed effects models indicate that across these studies, family stimulation, measured by caregivers’ engagement in nine activities (e.g., reading, playing, singing), predicted increments in children's early numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills (standardized associations ranged from 0.05 to 0.11 SD). Study-specific models showed variability in the estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies. These findings indicate the need for additional research on culturally specific ways in which caregivers may support early development and highlight the importance of promoting family stimulation to catalyze positive developmental trajectories in global contexts. Research Highlights: Research on the links between family stimulation and early childhood development in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited. We used longitudinal data from studies conducted in five LMICs to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes. Results suggest that family stimulation predicted increments in children's numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills. We found variability in the observed estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies, suggesting the need for additional research in LMICs.
AB - This paper used longitudinal data from five studies conducted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes (N = 4904; Mage = 51.5; 49% girls). Results from random-effects and more conservative child-fixed effects models indicate that across these studies, family stimulation, measured by caregivers’ engagement in nine activities (e.g., reading, playing, singing), predicted increments in children's early numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills (standardized associations ranged from 0.05 to 0.11 SD). Study-specific models showed variability in the estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies. These findings indicate the need for additional research on culturally specific ways in which caregivers may support early development and highlight the importance of promoting family stimulation to catalyze positive developmental trajectories in global contexts. Research Highlights: Research on the links between family stimulation and early childhood development in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited. We used longitudinal data from studies conducted in five LMICs to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes. Results suggest that family stimulation predicted increments in children's numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills. We found variability in the observed estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies, suggesting the need for additional research in LMICs.
KW - early childhood development
KW - fixed-effects
KW - home environment
KW - low-and-middle-income countries
KW - stimulation
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U2 - 10.1111/desc.13404
DO - 10.1111/desc.13404
M3 - Article
C2 - 37114644
AN - SCOPUS:85158045160
SN - 1363-755X
VL - 26
JO - Developmental science
JF - Developmental science
IS - 6
M1 - e13404
ER -