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This paper studied the interrelationships between parenting information, family care, and early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. A total of 1787 sample households in rural China were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. A demographic questionnaire, a parenting information questionnaire, the Family Care Indicators (FCIs), and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III (BSID-III) were used to measure demographic characteristics, parenting information that the caregiver received, family care, and early development outcomes of the child, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was then used to estimate the interrelationships. The results showed that family care significantly mediated between parenting information and ECD outcomes. Through family care, one standard deviation (SD) increase in the parenting information was associated with the increase in the child's four development outcomes (cognition, language, motor, and social-emotion) by 3%, 4%, 4%, and 5% of one SD, respectively. Different measurements of parenting information and different components of family care played different roles in the interrelationships. The key findings of this study are informative for providing early child development services in rural China.

This paper investigates the relationships between caregivers' parenting knowledge and early childhood development, based on a survey conducted in 1715 rural households in 100 villages located in an undeveloped rural area of western China. The results find that, first, caregivers' parenting knowledge is positively and significantly associated with children's development outcomes, including cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development; second, caregivers' parental investments significantly mediate the link between parenting knowledge and early childhood development; third, in contrast with other parental investments, play materials (in terms of variety and quantity) and play activities in the households are the strongest mediators. Our findings might be informative for policy makers to design policies targeted to foster human capital formation in rural China.

This paper empirically investigates the relationships between caregivers' parenting skills and early cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development of children aged 6-24 months. The study is based on data from a survey conducted in 100 villages in a typical poor rural area in western China. A total of 1715 households were enrolled in the study. In the study, Parent and Family Adjustment Scales (PAFAS), Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III (BSID-III), and a socioeconomic questionnaire were used to measure caregiver's parenting skills, child's development outcomes, and socioeconomic characteristics in sample households, respectively. Multivariate regression was used to estimate the relationship between a caregiver's parenting skills and the child's development outcomes. The results show that, first, parenting skills are positively and significantly associated with children's cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development, and the link between parenting skills and social-emotional development is the strongest; second, the correlation between parenting skills and development outcomes varies across socioeconomic characteristics and parenting skill dimensions. The results provide evidence for the relationship between parenting skills and early childhood development in rural households in western China. Our findings also suggest that interventions aimed at improving caregivers' parenting skills during the early stages are necessary for human capital development in rural China.

• Parental investment and skill mediate caregiver mental health and child development. • Caregiver depression are more harmful to parenting practices and child development. • The variety of play material has significant mediation effect on child development. • Coercive parenting mediate caregiver mental health and child development. Parenting practices are associated with early childhood development (ECD), and some evidences suggest that mental health might affect parenting practices. However, the interrelationships of mental health, parenting practices, and ECD outcomes have not yet been well documented in developing contexts like rural China. This paper aims to investigate the interrelationships between the caregiver's mental health, parenting practices, and the child's ECD outcomes in rural China. A total of 1787 sample households in an undeveloped rural area of western China are enrolled in the study. A socioeconomic questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Family Care Indicators, the Parent and Family Adjustment Scales, and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III were used to measure the socioeconomic characteristics of sample households, the caregiver's mental health, parental investments and parenting skills, and the child's development outcomes, respectively. Mediation model was then applied to estimate the interrelationships. The results showed that parental practices significantly mediated between the caregiver's mental health and the child's cognition, language, motor, and social–emotion development. Through parental investments, one standard deviation increases in the caregiver's mental health test score was associated with the decline in the child's four development scores by 0.6% standard deviation, respectively. Through parenting skills, one standard deviation increases in the caregiver's mental health test score was associated with the decline in the child's language and social-emotional score by 2% and 5% standard deviation, respectively. Different dimensions of caregiver mental health, parental investments and skills played heterogeneous roles in the interrelationships. Early interventions aimed at improving the caregiver's mental health, parental investments and skills are important and might be effective to improve early childhood development in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Parental belief is associated with Child social-emotional development. • Parental investments mediate parental belief and child development. • The mediation effects vary across investments and developmental outcomes. • The varieties of play materials and activities are the strongest mediators. Parental investments are associated with early child outcomes, and some evidences outside China suggest that parental belief might affect parental investments. However, the interrelationships of parental belief, parental investments, and early child development has not been well documented in China. This paper aims to study the interrelationships between the caregiver's parental belief, the caregiver's parental investments, and the child's early developmental outcomes in rural China. A total of 1787 sample households in an undeveloped rural area of western China are enrolled in the cross-sectional study. A parental belief questionnaire, the Family Care Indicators (FCI), the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III (BSID-III), and a socioeconomic questionnaire were used to measure the caregiver's parental belief on parenting practices, the caregiver's parental investments, the child's early developmental outcomes, and the socioeconomic characteristics of sample households, respectively. The mediation model was then applied to estimate the interrelationships. The results find that the caregiver's parental investments significantly mediate in the relationships between the caregiver's parental belief and the child's early developmental outcomes. Through parental investments, one standard deviation (SD) increase in the caregiver's parental belief is corresponding to 3% of one SD increase in the child's four developmental outcomes (cognition, language, motor, and social–emotion) respectively. For future studies aimed at designing targeted interventions on early child development in rural China, the key findings of this paper might be informative. Early interventions aimed at strengthening the caregiver's subjective belief on parenting practices and increasing the parental investments in the household might be effective to improve the development of rural children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It is unclear that what delivery model of early childhood interventions may be most effective in developing countries. • We evaluate the effects of a center-based parenting intervention on early development and parenting practices in rural China. • We compare the effects to a home-based intervention using the same curriculum and public service system in the same region. • We find the home-visiting intervention was more effective than the center-based parenting intervention on child outcomes. • The difference in effects appears to be driven by different patterns of compliance. We present the results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial that evaluates the effects of a free, center-based parenting intervention on early cognitive development and parenting practices in 100 rural villages in China. We then compare these effects to a previous trial of a home-based intervention conducted in the same region, using the same parenting curriculum and public service system, accounting for potential differences between the studies. We find that the center-based intervention did not have a significant impact on child development outcomes, but did lead to increases in the material investments, time investments, and parenting skills of caregivers. The average impact of the center-based intervention on child skills and investments in children was significantly smaller than the home-visiting intervention. Analysis of the possible mechanisms suggests that the difference in effects was driven primarily by different patterns of selection into program participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]