1. Fostering early childhood development in low-resource communities: Evidence from a group-based parenting intervention in Tanzania.
- Author
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Leighton, Margaret, Martine, Anitha, and Massaga, Julius
- Subjects
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CAREGIVER education , *CHILD development , *PARENTING , *CAREGIVER-child relationships , *PLAY - Abstract
• Group-based caregiver training in rural Tanzania led to 0.29 SD improvement in early child development. • The intervention caused changes in home environment, parent-child interactions, and the use of positive parenting strategies. • Changes were measured on the practices of both mothers and fathers. Group-based parent training programmes present an affordable means to influence the early experiences of children at scale. This paper reports evidence on the effectiveness of a practice-led intervention piloted in rural Tanzania evaluated through a matched control study design. The core of the programme is an 8–10 week caregiver training course led by local facilitators, built around early stimulation and nurturing care. After two years of implementation, the intervention led to improvements in the development of 3-year olds of 0.29 standard deviations. Detailed data on caregivers indicates that these improvements are due to changes in the type and frequency of caregiver-child interactions for both mothers and fathers, as well as the quality of play materials in the home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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