Family play, reading, and other stimulation and early childhood development in five low-and-middle-income countries

Abstract

This paper used longitudinal data from five studies conducted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes (N = 4904; M_age = 51.5; 49% girls). Results from random-effects and more conservative child-fixed effects models indicate that across these studies, family stimulation, measured by caregivers' engagement in nine activities (e.g., reading, playing, singing), predicted increments in children's early numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills (standardized associations ranged from 0.05 to 0.11 SD). Study-specific models showed variability in the estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies. These findings indicate the need for additional research on culturally specific ways in which caregivers may support early development and highlight the importance of promoting family stimulation to catalyze positive developmental trajectories in global contexts. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Research on the links between family stimulation and early childhood development in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited. We used longitudinal data from studies conducted in five LMICs to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes. Results suggest that family stimulation predicted increments in children's numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills. We found variability in the observed estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies, suggesting the need for additional research in LMICs.

Keywords: early childhood development; fixed-effects; home environment; low-and-middle-income countries; stimulation.

FIGURE 1

Summary of the standardized associations between family stimulation and children's ECD outcomes using child FE models, by country. Note: Shaded bars (from lighter to darker color) represent 90%, 95%, and 99% CI. ⁺ p < 0.1, ^* p < 0.05, ^** p < 0.01, ^*** p < 0.001.