Correlates of participation in community-based interventions: Evidence from a parenting program in rural China.

Yiwei Qian,Scott Rozelle,Sarah-Eve Dill,Yi Ming Zheng

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0238841

Abstract

A growing body of literature has documented that community-based early childhood development (ECD) interventions can improve child developmental outcomes in vulnerable communities. One critical element of effective community-based programs is consistent program participation. However, little is known about participation in community-based ECD interventions or factors that may affect participation. This paper examines factors linked to program participation within a community-based ECD program serving 819 infants and their caregivers in 50 rural villages in northwestern China. The results find that more than half of families did not regularly attend the ECD program. Both village-level social ties within the program and proximity to the program significantly predict program participation. Increased distance from the program site is linked with decreased individual program participation, while the number of social ties is positively correlated with participation. The average program participation rates among a family's social ties is also positively correlated with individual participation, indicating strong peer effects. Taken together, our findings suggest that attention should be given to promoting social interactions and reducing geographic barriers among households in order to raise participation in community-based ECD programs.

Highlights

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), over 250 million children under 5 years old are at risk of not reaching their full developmental potential due to poverty and under-stimulation [1]
This paper examines factors associated with participation in a community-based early childhood development (ECD) intervention in rural China, focusing on the roles of geographic proximity and Number of social ties Average distance of social ties to program Average participation of social ties
Drawing on data from 819 children and their families enrolled in parenting centers in 50 villages in the Qinling mountain region of northwestern China, we describe overall participation rates, the geographic proximity of households to the ECD program, and the social ties of sample households

Summary

Introduction

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), over 250 million children under 5 years old are at risk of not reaching their full developmental potential due to poverty and under-stimulation [1] Such widespread developmental delays carry potential long-term consequences, as delays in early childhood have been shown to negatively impact educational attainment and income and perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of poverty [2, 3]. In response to these concerns, a growing body of literature has documented that parenting interventions, which aim to increase psychosocial stimulation in early childhood by training caregivers in age-appropriate interactive parenting practices [4], can improve early childhood development (ECD) in vulnerable communities [2, 5,6,7].

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