Evaluation of a Group Training Based Parent-Child Interaction Program on the Child Development in a Low-Income Setting

Last registered on October 17, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluation of a Group Training Based Parent-Child Interaction Program on the Child Development in a Low-Income Setting
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012023
Initial registration date
September 01, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 04, 2023, 6:54 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
October 17, 2023, 12:38 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
China
Region
Henan Province

Primary Investigator

Name
Yue Ma
Affiliation
Stanford University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Scott Rozelle
PI Affiliation
Stanford University
PI Name
Lucy Pappas
PI Affiliation
Stanford University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-07-01
End date
2023-10-25
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
RCT, Parent-Child Interaction, Early Childhood Development, Group Training, Rural China
JEL code(s)
JEL: C93, I21, J13
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Investments in early childhood development (ECD) have lifelong effects on the growth of an individual, the educational attainment of the next generation, and the economic growth of a country. Poor ECD trends persist in populations around the world, especially those in lower and middle-income countries.

Research shows that many children from less-resourced settings might not be experiencing high quality language and parent-child interaction environments necessary for healthy child development. Evidence from non-Western, as well as low-income settings in developed countries, suggests that the home language and parent-child interaction environment have a strong influence on child development outcomes. Rural China is one example of a low-income setting where the home language environment may be a significant factor of ECD. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a group training based parent-child Interaction parenting program on home language and parent-child interaction environment and ECD outcomes of children aged 12-30 months living in low-income communities.


External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ma, Yue, Lucy Pappas and Scott Rozelle. 2023. " Evaluation of a Group Training Based Parent-Child Interaction Program on the Child Development in a Low-Income Setting." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12023-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Colleagues from Harvard and Rice University (Dr. Meredith Rowe and Dr. Flavio Cunha, respectively) designed a curriculum to teach parents how to better engage with children and build a better home language and parent-child interaction environment to promote healthy ECD. In this program, trained local community health workers follow and deliver a curriculum that teaches parents how to make the most out of every interaction with their child. Through group-based discussions and activities, parents participate in two months of class, learning about ECD, responsive interactions to build language and learning, and strategies for fostering development at home.
Intervention Start Date
2023-07-21
Intervention End Date
2023-10-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Early childhood development outcomes
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Early childhood development outcomes are measured by the following scales: 1) Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition (Bayley-III); 2) Caregiver Reported Early Development Instrument – short form (CREDI-SF); 3) The receptive and expressive of the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI); 4) Home language environment (Language Environment Analysis, LENA).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Caregiver parenting knowledge
Active parenting practices: Measured using Family Care Indicators (FCI)
Caregiver mental health outcomes: Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The treatment group (randomized at the village level) represents half of our sample and will participate in weekly in-person group parenting training sessions.

The control group (randomized at the village level) includes the other half of our sample. These parents will not participate in the group parenting sessions.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Village level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
82
Sample size: planned number of observations
702
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
41 villages in treatment group
41 villages in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power was estimated based on the treatment effects of parenting interventions documented in the literature (Emmers et al. 2021) between study arms for the two primary outcome indicators: 1) overall child development, 2) active parenting practices. Our sample size estimates account for randomization at the cluster level at .05 significance level. For overall child development, the power of the design was calculated given a 0.26 standard deviation effect (Emmers et al. 2021), assuming an intra-cluster correlation of .01 and a cluster size of 8 babies per village. For Active parenting practices, the power of the design was calculated given a 0.39 standard deviation effect (Emmers et al. 2021), assuming an intra-cluster correlation of 0.01, and a cluster size of 8 babies per village. Based on these reference effect sizes, our study design holds powers of 0.89 and 0.99 when overall child development and active practices serve as the outcome variable, respectively.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Research Institute of Economics and Management Southwestern University of Finance and Economics
IRB Approval Date
2023-05-09
IRB Approval Number
N/A
IRB Name
Stanford University
IRB Approval Date
2023-10-17
IRB Approval Number
68941
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials