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Adding a parental support intervention to conditional cash transfers improves child development in rural Mexico (378.8)
Author(s) -
Fernald Lia,
Schnaas Lourdes,
Neufeld Lynnette,
Knauer Heather,
Garcia Guerra Armando
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.378.8
Subject(s) - indigenous , conditional cash transfer , poverty , child development , psychology , population , developmental psychology , early childhood , demography , medicine , environmental health , political science , ecology , sociology , law , biology
Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs have been widely implemented throughout the world to combat extreme poverty. The effects of CCTs on child development have not been as large as desired, particularly among the most vulnerable populations. This study examined the independent and synergistic effects of participation in a CCT (Oportunidades) with and without an early childhood stimulation program (Educacion Inicial); random assignment was at the community level, stratified by predominant indigenous population or not. Our analyses focused on children (n=1112), and estimated effects on child development outcomes, as measured by the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA). When compared with children receiving only CCT benefits, children from communities receiving both CCT benefits and early child development stimulation had higher scores on the General Cognitive subscale of the MCSA (β=0.25, 95%CI: 0.07‐0.43, p=0.006), as well as the Verbal (β=0.27, 95%CI: 0.05‐0.48, p=0.014), Quantitative (β=0.19, 95%CI: 0.02‐0.36, p=0.027), and Memory (β=0.26, 95%CI: 0.06‐0.45, p=0.01) subscales. The Perceptual‐Performance subscale did not show significant differences (β=0.16, 95%CI: ‐0.02‐0.33, p=0.08). Subgroup analyses of children in predominantly indigenous populations (n=536) showed significant differences in all domains of the MSCA, whereas children in non‐indigenous populations (n=576) showed no significant differences in the MSCA. These findings suggest that CCT programs could have larger effects on children’s development by improving child stimulation through parenting support; these conclusions are particularly relevant for children living in predominantly indigenous populations of rural Mexico.