The mediating role of caregiver mental health and parental investment on early childhood social-emotional development outcomes: evidence from rural China

• In Event: Roundtable Session 3
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Navigating Socio-Cultural Landscapes: Mental Health, Governance, and Philosophy in Education and Development

Proposal

Approximately 250 million children under age 5 in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) face developmental delays(Lu, Black, and Richter 2016). The problem of early childhood developmental delays is pronounced in rural China, with up to 86% of children aged 0-3 experiencing delays in at least one of 4 domains in cognitive, language, motor, and social-emotional development(Bai, Abulitifu, and Wang 2022). Parenting programs in LMICs have shown promise in enhancing early childhood cognitive, language, and motor skill development but have inconsistent results for social-emotional development(Emmers et al. 2021). The study aims to determine whether these interventions significantly improve children's social-emotional outcomes and if caregiver mental health and parental investment mediate these effects. The sample comprised 2,554 caregiver-child dyads from 3 randomized controlled trials conducted in rural China in the period between 2015 and 2022. Results indicated marginal benefits for male children in the lowest family asset quartile; however, no significant overall improvement in social-emotional outcomes was observed. Additionally, parental investment in psycho-social stimulation of young children significantly mediated these effects, especially for male children. Caregiver’s mental health did not show significant changes post-intervention and did not mediate the outcomes. The findings highlight the heterogeneous impact of parenting interventions. This study also underscores the importance of investing in early childhood development through tailored interventions that consider gender and socioeconomic disparities.

Author

• Jingyue Zhang, Stanford University