Disadvantage and Parental Practices: Theory and Evidence from India

Last registered on June 11, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Disadvantage and Parental Practices: Theory and Evidence from India
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016175
Initial registration date
June 05, 2025

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
June 11, 2025, 6:53 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
Delhi

Primary Investigator

Name
Sayantan Ghosal
Affiliation
University of Glasgow
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Patricio Dalton
PI Affiliation
Tilburg Univesity
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Seemanti Ghosh
PI Affiliation
University of Glasgow
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Theodore Koutmeridis
PI Affiliation
University of Glasgow
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Sanchari Roy
PI Affiliation
University of Exeter
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-06-01
End date
2024-10-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
D91, I24, I25
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Parental practices play a critical role in shaping children's long-term economic outcomes by influencing early skill formation. An important, though rather understudied, question is how parents learn parenting. While good parenting practices should function as a public good, access to them is unequal. In more economically advantaged contexts, learning occurs through books, online resources, and peer networks. In low-income settings, however, limited education and restricted access to information and networks may constrain this process. We develop a model predicting that interventions which lower barriers to accessing and adopting effective parenting practices will lead to higher adoption, especially among disadvantaged families. We then design an intervention using a curated handbook of effective parental practices with clear guidelines and examples, and distribute it to a random sample of parents. A second group of randomly selected parents receive the handbook plus personal counselling from a trained peer, a “Mitra”. We measure parenting practices and child outcomes one year after the intervention.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dalton, Patricio et al. 2025. "Disadvantage and Parental Practices: Theory and Evidence from India." AEA RCT Registry. June 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16175-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
See attached PAP.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2023-10-01
Intervention End Date
2024-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcome variable is an index of parental practices, measured across the four areas of discipline, usage of mobile phones, participation in classroom and broadening of the horizon of education.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The 168 schools in our sample were randomly assigned to three groups: Control and two treatment arms (T1 and T2). The three arms of the field experiment are:
Control (C): The 56 schools assigned to C received no intervention. Within these schools, 251 randomly selected parents were surveyed at baseline and endline.
Parental Practice Package (T1): The 269 parents randomly selected from the 56 schools assigned to T1 received the parental practice package.
Parental Practice Package plus Mitra (T2): The 298 parents randomly selected from the 56 schools assigned to T2 received the same material in T1, plus two one-on-one meetings with a randomly selected motivated parent, called “Mitra”, which means friend in
Hindi. The aim of the second treatment is to add to the impersonal material, a personal connection which has been shown to increase engagement and effectiveness.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
School
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
168 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
818 parents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
56 each in Control and the two treatment arms.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Glasgow College of Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2020-08-12
IRB Approval Number
400190211
IRB Name
DAI Research & Advisory Services Pvt Ltd. Human Subjects Committee
IRB Approval Date
2025-05-31
IRB Approval Number
DEL-PP-01/2024-2025
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
January 31, 2024, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials