Parental Behaviour Research Articles

Associations between 11 parental discipline behaviours and child outcomes across 60 countries

ObjectivesTo test associations between 11 caregiver aggressive and non-aggressive discipline behaviours and outcomes (aggression, distraction and prosocial peer relations) of children under 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).ParticipantsData...

Parental Financial Socialisation and Financial Knowledge: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

Purpose: The main aim of the study was to investigate the impact of parental financial socialisation on financial knowledge of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. This study was guided by family financial socialisation theory which is cognisant of the various family characteristics, such as family size and socioeconomic status, as predictors of financial outcome through their association with family socialisation process. Design/methodology/approach: The study used quantitative approach and survey design. Primary data on parental financial socialisation was collected from structured questionnaires. A survey was carried out on 500 young black African adults in Fetakgomo Tubatse and Intsika Yethu municipalities. The research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. Findings: The study found that parental financial behaviour, parental financial discussion, parental financial communication, and parental financial teaching had significant positive impact on financial knowledge. It is observed that parental financial communication had the strongest impact on financial knowledge. Parental financial monitoring had a significant negative impact on financial knowledge. Thus, the overall results showed that parental financial socialisation has an impact on financial knowledge of young black African adults in rural and low-income area in South Africa. Research limitations/implications: Due to the low levels of general literacy among the respondents, which negatively affected data collection; some young adults did not understand the questionnaire and withdrew from participating in the study. Furthermore, even though confidentiality and anonymity were guaranteed, respondents were reluctant to participate in the study. They feared exposing their financial position and displayed a lack of trust. Originality/value: The current study contributed to the body of knowledge differently to the previous studies because it focused on parental financial socialisation of young black African adults in rural and low-income area. There is no study which has been conducted on parental financial socialisation impact on financial knowledge in rural and low-income area in South Africa. This makes this study so important and warrant that it should be carried out to provide the much-needed results that could help to improve the level of financial knowledge of young black African adults.

Open Access Original Research Social Sciences (miscellaneous) Social Media Usage Affects Family Communication Among Chinese Adolescence

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to see how social media usage affected family communication among Chinese adolescents. The study's overarching goal was to determine the influence of social networks on family communication among Chinese adolescents. The study aimed to determine how frequently Chinese adolescents used social media and how this might affect their family interactions. Design / Methodology / Approach: The data were obtained from seven Chinese respondents who comprised the sample. In-depth interviews were used as a data collection tool. The data collected were thematically analysed. Main Findings: The findings reveal that Chinese adolescents spend more time interacting with friends and social networks online than speaking with their families. They frequently seek mentoring, advice, and emotional and social support from online friends. According to the study findings, adolescents' personalities significantly impede effective family interaction and communication. Research limitations/implications: The findings show that social media significantly impacts family communication. Future research could also look at the attitudes and behaviours of parents and adult children on social media. Originality/value: This research is unique in that it looks at the Chinese community's family communication patterns on social media. The findings of this study will benefit Chinese society because family communication serves as a crucible for society.

The Impact of Educator Anxiety and Anxiety Literacy on Primary Educators’ Responses to Anxious Children

BackgroundParental anxiety and over-involved parenting behaviour are consistently associated with an increase in child anxiety symptoms. Primary school aged children also often develop a strong and influential relationship with their class teacher and how educators respond to anxiety therefore warrants investigation. Preliminary research has shown that educators use anxiety-promoting techniques, such as avoidance. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the factors that influence the management of anxious children by primary school educators in the classroom setting.ObjectiveThis study investigated the relationship between the anxiety literacy of primary school educators, anxiety symptoms experienced by primary school educators and the management of anxious children by primary school educators.MethodsA total of 73 primary school educators in the United Kingdom completed an online survey. The survey measured participant anxiety and anxiety knowledge, as well as utilising vignettes of hypothetical scenarios to measure the use of anxiety-promoting and autonomy-promoting responses.ResultsEducator anxiety literacy predicted a reduced likelihood of using anxiety-promoting responses but did not predict increased use of autonomy-promoting responses. Educators’ anxiety was not found to predict anxiety-promoting or autonomy-promoting responses when managing anxious children.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that promoting anxiety literacy in primary educators may reduce the frequency with which educators use anxiety promoting responses with anxious students. The findings highlight the importance of further clarifying the quality and forms of anxiety mental health knowledge and training which educators receive. This type of data may be useful in developing ways to equip educators with the skills to respond and manage anxiety in the classroom.

Parental educational styles from parents’ and children’s perspectives

INTRODUCTION. The construction of parental educational styles is diverse and they develop along with the children being raised. Self Determination Theory (SDT) establishes two dimensions to define parental educational behaviours: autonomy support versus control, and structure versus chaos. On the basis of SDT, two parental educational styles are pointed: authoritative and harsh. This study analyses the relationship between parental education styles and children’s perceptions of their parents’ behaviours, and the influence of the parent gender. METHOD. The sample comprised 2,404 parents, and 1,234 children from 3 autonomous communities in Spain. The Parents as social context questionnaire was applied, and the Perceived Parental Autonomy Support Scale and Dependency-oriented psychological control scale in children. All of the instruments were adapted into Spanish. Multigroup path analysis was performed to identify the most appropriate model about parental educational styles in family dynamics, taking into account the parent’s gender. RESULTS. Firstly, the authoritative and harsh parental styles were confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis. The findings showed that the ideal model was that where there was no bi-directionality between parents’ perceptions about their educational styles and their children’s perceptions. The chosen model indicates a unidirectional path from parents to children. Being necessary to keep a relation between the child’s perception about the received support for autonomy and parental control. The invariance of the model based on the gender was partially maintained. DISCUSSION. This study shows a model where the authoritative parental style influences child’s perceived autonomy support and where the harsh parental style has effects on child’s perceived threat. The concept of parental psychological control has been discussed. Finally, a balance between authoritative and harsh style, is proposed inside families.

Developmental outcomes for survivors of placental laser photocoagulation for the management of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome

BackgroundFetoscopic laser coagulation of placental anastomoses reverses the pathological process in twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, thereby increasing survival, but there are a paucity of studies addressing long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of survivors. This study aimed to ascertain the presence of neurodevelopmental disabilities in child survivors of monochorionic pregnancies managed by placental laser photocoagulation in the Australian state of Victoria.MethodsAll pregnancies undergoing placental laser photocoagulation with the Victorian Fetal Therapy Service between 2006–2017 were included. Information on each surviving child, including demographics, perinatal course, and developmental progress was collected from parents, and consent was sought to complete the Child Behaviour Checklist. Interviewers evaluated whether this information was consistent with a diagnosis of any of 14 neurodevelopmental conditions. A three-tiered outcome measure was allocated for each child: (1) unimpaired or developmentally normal, (2) mild or moderate neurological impairment, or (3) severe neurological impairment. Clinical predictors for adverse outcome were identified.ResultsOf 116 pregnancies (113 twin, 3 triplet), 96 (83%) resulted in 1 + surviving fetuses. 57/113 (50%) twin pregnancies resulted in 2 survivors, 36 (32%) in 1 survivor, and 20 (18%) in no survivors. Of the 235 fetuses, 154 (65.5%) survived to follow-up. Survival increased from 59% in 2006–2008 to 73% in 2015–2017. 90/154 (58%) survivors were followed up at a mean age of 7.5 [SD 3.0] years. Based on parental interview and Child Behaviour Checklist data, 28/90 (31%) participants were assessed as having neurodevelopmental impairment, 27 of mild-moderate severity and 1 severe. Speech/language disorders, attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorders, and fine motor impairment were most common. Neonatal length of stay conferred the highest risk of impairment.ConclusionSubstantial variation exists between fetal therapy services in the type and length of neonatal follow-up following fetoscopic laser coagulation, contributing to a lack of data on long-term outcomes. The findings from this study support increasingly urgent calls to undertake systematic and sustained follow-up of fetoscopic laser coagulation survivors until school age. Information from this study may assist parents in their decision-making when offered fetal surgery. Importantly, it highlights a group for targeted surveillance and early intervention.

A proposal for an oral health educational programme for the first 1000days of life: from pregnancy to childhood.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the need to consider oral health during the first 1000days of a child's life with a view to developing appropriate educational programmes. The first 1000days of life represent a window of opportunity for prevention in children. This concept is built on a consideration of the overall health of mother and child, taking into account social inequalities in health. It is now established that the oral health of the mother determines the oral health of her child. Furthermore, parents' knowledge and behaviour have a direct influence on their child's health. The majority of the population does not have the necessary skills to adopt behaviours that promote oral health. The need for oral health education begins in the first 1000days of life. Following the model of family health education, these programmes would involve providing pregnant women and, therefore, families with the skills they need to manage their own oral health and that of their future child as early as possible.

94 Understanding Parental Behaviours Related to Infant Sleep Environment

Abstract Introduction/Background Sudden unexplained death in infants continues to make up a significant proportion of infant deaths. Despite wide dissemination of Canadian Paediatric Society and American Academy of Paediatrics safe sleep recommendations, studies demonstrate significant caregiver nonadherence to the recommendations. Few studies have examined caregiver reasons for low uptake of recommendations. There is an urgent need to understand these issues not only for individual providers counseling about sleep, but also for implementation of public health initiatives which attempt to target parental behaviour change. Objectives Our study aimed to explore parental perceptions, beliefs and influences regarding safe infant sleep environment and factors contributing to parental behaviour related to sleep environment. Design/Methods A qualitative study utilizing ground theory methodology was conducted with in-depth individual interviews of 14 parents of infants less than six months admitted to a large paediatric hospital in Toronto, Canada. Data collection occurred from November 2017 to January 2018, until a saturation of themes was reached. Interview transcripts were analyzed for recurrent and emergent themes and a coding structure was developed. Results Interviews with caregivers were completed, and a range of sleep locations and environments were described. Most caregivers reported that a bassinet or crib was the main sleeping location, but most infants were also placed in other locations at various times, including infant swings, couches, and bed-sharing with caregivers. Three dominant themes affecting decision-making about sleep location were identified: 1. safety, 2. feasibility and convenience and, 3. perception of infant preference and developmental needs. These factors were often present simultaneously in parental decision-making, frequently acting in opposition to one another. Caregivers’ methods of mitigating harm were often counter to recommendations, such as using pillows to prevent rolling. Information sources regarding sleep choices typically included family, friends, healthcare providers and media. Most caregivers placed greater significance on healthcare recommendations than the advice of family members. Conclusion This study identified key factors that impact caregivers’ decision-making regarding infant sleep. These results can inform healthcare providers counselling about safe sleep recommendations and public health interventions aimed at increasing adherence to safe sleep recommendations and reducing preventable infant deaths.

Experiences of Abused Health Care Workers – Findings from an online qualitative self-report study on child psychiatry

Aim: Emergency psychiatric care for children is a priority. It is inevitable that sometimes in some situations patients or their relatives abuse psychiatric staff. There are many factors that facilitate this violence, but also some that are protective. It is a crucial question whether the causes of abuse can be found in the patients, in external factors or in the situation.Methodology: Following an extensive Hungarian and international literature review, Authors used a self-developed semi-structured online questionnaire with a total of ten questions, involving 51 participants, from which 21 responded. The topics of the questions were: definition of intentional and non-intentional violence, description of the abuse, perceived risk factors, consequences of the incident, cause and goal, treatment, reporting, prevention, and other comments. The data corpus was examined using content analysis and coded in two stages.Findings: During the coding process, Authors found that situational causes underlie abuse in most areas. In case descriptions, external causes were also emphasized. In topics consequences and goals, patient-related criteria were the most frequent, and external factors were the first only in topic of risk factors. Staff-patient interaction is a crucial issue related to violence against health workers, but the potentially triggering psychiatric disorder of the child cannot always be excluded.Value: Most psychiatric disorders are caused by early trauma, and trauma is underpinned by adverse childhood experiences and deviant parental behaviour. However, the hospital is a part of a larger system and health problems have social roots. It should be underlined that direct causes of abuse are hidden in the staff-patient interaction, but in many cases parental deviance is also responsible for the onset of psychiatric disorders. Our research may contribute to a deeper understanding of this phenomenon and provide a basis for future quantitative research.

Observations of chick feeding rates and parental defensive responses to disturbance at nests in the critically endangered New Zealand fairy tern/tara iti (Sternula nereis davisae)

ABSTRACT The New Zealand fairy tern/tara iti (Sternula nereis davisae; NZFT) is New Zealand’s most endangered bird, with approximately 40 individuals remaining. Due to previous poor breeding success, this species is on the brink of extinction. Nest failures occur because of adverse weather, predation, and potentially nest disturbance. We observed parental behaviour of 11 nesting pairs from November 2020 to January 2021 at three sites: Mangawhai, Waipu and Pakiri. Overall, avian predator disturbance was low at all nests, and most disturbance events were by interactions between conspecifics. Responses to conspecific disturbances were lowest for the three closely nesting pairs and highest for the three solitary nests. We measured the frequency of chick feeding and found feeding rates varied considerably between nests. Defensive response rates and feeding rates varied between nests but we found no relationship between the proportion of responses to disturbance and feeding rates. We found no relationship between feeding rate and tidal state. This could be due to our small sample size and the duration of our observation period (30 min). We urge future researchers to increase observation period time. With an understanding of feeding rates and disturbance, informed decisions can be made to support the conservation of NZFT.

The Health and Attainment of Pupils in Primary Education

ObjectivesHAPPEN (The Health and Attainment of Pupils in Primary EducatioN) aims to empower schools to make meaningful changes by gaining a better understanding of pupil’s physical, psychological, emotional and social health. HAPPEN has had 30,000+ children across Wales take part to develop an e-cohort that is supported by public engagement and involvement.
 MethodsPupils (aged 7-11 or years 4/5/6) complete a self-report survey within school about aspects of their health and wellbeing. HAPPEN is directly aligned to the new Curriculum for Wales and has a strong utilisation of consultation, engagement and collaboration with school staff and local authorities. Schools receive an individual report presenting group-level data on pupils’ health and wellbeing while creating a dataset of health and wellbeing across Wales. This data has been linked to routine data and has the potential to make signficant impact in Wales.
 ResultsHAPPEN data has most recently been used to explore children’s health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic. This included a retrospective cohort study using an online cohort survey (January 2018 to February 2020) linked to routine PCR SARS-CoV-2 test results to explore health-related behaviours in children (2018-2020) and association with being tested and testing positive (2020-2021). This found associations relating to parental health literacy and monitoring behaviours. As well as this, free school meal status was used as a proxy for deprivation in an exploratory study on the impact of school closures on the health and well-being. The physical health (eg, physical activity and diet) of children eligible for FSM may be affected by prolonged school closures. HAPPEN research is driven by the wants and needs of its user-group.
 ConclusionHAPPEN exists to empower schools and practitioners to improve the health and wellbeing of children across Wales by feeding into policy and practice. This infrastructure has facilitated the creation of a dataset that can be linked to answer past and future questions including an evaluation of current free school meal roll-out.

Parental Financial Socialisation and Child’s Gender

Parental financial socialisation is impactful to children’s development of healthy financial behaviour. This study determined the difference in parental financial socialisation across child’s gender in rural and low-income areas in South Africa. Parental financial socialisation was measured through parental financial behaviour, parental financial monitoring, parental financial discussion, parental financial communication, and parental financial teaching. Quantitative research was used in this study. The research design adopted is the survey design, a non-experimental research design. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from young black African adults in Fetakgomo Tubatse and Intsika Yethu municipalities because they are the most rural and low-income areas in South Africa. Descriptive statistics and T-tests were performed to test hypotheses. The results showed that there is no significant difference in parental financial socialisation according to the child’s gender. Thus, this study does not support the notion that male children are more likely than female children to receive parental financial socialisation as argued in literature. This study recommended that financial educators and government must come up with financial programmes where issues of gender and financial socialisation will be addressed.

A proposed model of parental behaviours of music practice: based on music majors’ retrospective views in mainland China

ABSTRACT The primary purpose of this study is to explore how parents involve themselves in their children’s music practice. It is based on the retrospective views of Chinese collegiate students majoring in music. A total of 14 Chinese students participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The qualitative analysis in this study centred on the type and frequency of parental behaviours. The results demonstrate that each of the participants remembered their parents being involved in their music practice to varying degrees. Specific types of involvement are organised into five categories: controlling, supervising, supporting, engaging, and prohibiting. Based on the findings, a model is proposed to aid understanding of the complexity of parental behaviour of music practice in the Chinese context. A potential trajectory of parental behaviours pertinent to highly self-regulated music learners was also identified. The study suggests possible theoretical foundations for further exploration of the role of parents in music learning.

Prevalence and correlates of meeting the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines among a sample of Canadian parents during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundParents’ own movement behaviours can influence those of their children, thus contributing to the health and well-being of the whole family. Parents experienced a shift in work and childcare responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This may have led to a reduction in their healthy movements. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of meeting vs. not meeting the individual and combined recommendations within the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for adults among a sample of Canadian parents during the second wave (October 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsParents of children aged 5–17 years (n = 1,477) responded to a cross-sectional survey conducted in October 2020. A total of 21 self-reported correlates, including parental and child demographics, and change in family movement behaviours/characteristics were assessed. Parental movement behaviours were reported and classified as meeting or not meeting each of the guidelines. Associations between correlates and meeting each of the guidelines were examined using multiple logistic regression.ResultsThe proportion of parents who met the moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), recreational screen time, sleep duration and combined guidelines were 21.2, 51.0, 66.1, and 9.1%, respectively. Being a parent ≥ 45 years old, having a university education, and higher levels of outdoor play were associated with meeting the combined guidelines. Age, dwelling type, family hobbies, and outdoor play were associated with meeting the MVPA recommendation. Employment status, education level, dog ownership, children’s age, family physical activity, and levels of distress were associated with meeting the recreational screen time recommendation. Geographical region, dwelling type, and levels of distress were associated with meeting the sleep duration recommendation.ConclusionsFew Canadian parents were meeting the combined 24-hour movement guidelines recommendations for MVPA, recreational screen time, and sleep six months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Several socio-demographic, behavioural, and COVID-19-related factors emerged as significant correlates of meeting vs. not meeting the individual and/or combined recommendations within the guidelines. The findings provide various avenues for which to target future movement behaviour interventions and guideline adoption for parents.

Sustained improvements by behavioural parent training for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Ameta-analytic review of longer-term child and parental outcomes.

Behavioural parent training is an evidence-based intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but little is known about the extent to which initial benefits are maintained. This meta-analytic review investigated longer-term (i.e., more than 2months post-intervention) child and parental outcomes of behavioural parent training for children with ADHD. We searched for randomized controlled trials and examined ADHD symptoms, behavioural problems, positive parenting, negative parenting, parenting sense of competence, parent-child relationship quality, and parental mental health as outcomes. We included 27 studies (31 interventions; 217 effect sizes), used multilevel random-effects meta-analyses for between- and within-group comparisons (pre-intervention to follow-up and post-intervention to follow-up), and explored twelve predictors of change. Between pre-intervention and follow-up (M=5.3months), we found significant small-to-moderate between-group effects of the intervention on ADHD symptoms, behavioural problems, positive parenting, parenting sense of competence and parent-child relationship quality. Within-group findings show sustained improvements in the intervention conditions for all outcome domains. There were few significant changes from post-intervention to follow-up. Additionally, the large majority of the individual effect sizes indicated sustained outcomes from post-intervention to follow-up. There were seven significant predictors of change in child outcomes, including stronger reductions in ADHD symptoms of girls and behaviour problems of younger children. In contrast with some meta-analyses on short-term effects, we found no differences between masked and unmasked outcomes on ADHD symptoms at follow-up. We conclude that behavioural parent training has longer-term benefits for children's ADHD symptoms and behavioural problems, and for positive parenting behaviours, parenting sense of competence and quality of the parent-child relationship.

Parental care behaviour in response to perceived paternity is not mediated by 11-ketotestosterone in bluegill sunfish

Parental care is critical for the survival of many young animals, but parental care can be costly to the individual providing care. To balance this cost, parents can allocate their care to offspring based on their value, which can be dependent on the offspring’s relatedness to the parent. Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is a fish characterized by uniparental male care and high levels of cuckoldry. While parental males of this species have been shown to adaptively adjust their care in response to paternity, the mechanisms for this adjustment are not well understood. Androgens are steroid hormones that are associated with parental care behaviours in many species including bluegill. Here, we test the hypothesis that circulating androgen concentrations mediate the adjustment in care provided by bluegill parental males by manipulating perceived paternity and then measuring circulating 11-ketotestosterone concentration and parental care behaviour. We show that males with higher perceived paternity provide higher levels of nurturing and nest defense behaviour, but contrary to expectations, we found that these males had lower concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone. Furthermore, we found positive correlations between individual circulating plasma 11-ketotestosterone concentrations and nurturing behaviour, but not with the aggressive behaviours that differed between paternity treatments. While bluegill make behavioural changes in response to perceived paternity, these changes do not appear to be modulated by 11-ketotestosterone.

Epstein Framework of Parental Engagement a Key to Student Success of the Primary School Students: A Case Study of Yiwu Dongzhou, China

This study aims to understand parental participation behaviours and suggest strategies to support parental engagement in children's learning at Yiwu Dongzhou Primary School in Zhejiang, China. The study adopted a mixed method and interviewed six parents at all levels in-depth using a quantitative sample of 216 parents representing 1,600 pupils. WeChat was used to collect the data, which was then analyzed using Excel and SPSSPRO software for content analysis and descriptive statistics? The findings showed that 83% of the sample parents were mothers, 98% lived in two-parent households, and 65% were between 36 and 45. High school (44%) and middle school (27%) had the most parents with a degree. Parental involvement in decision-making and Volunteering was comparatively low. The results led to many recommendations for improving parental involvement at Yiwu Dongzhou Primary School. The scope of activities for parental participation should be expanded, teacher-parent communication channels should be improved, parent workshops or training should be organised to support learning at home, and community networks should be fostered to offer support and resources for families through cooperative educational activities and forums for parents to share experiences.

Parental care behaviour in bumble bee queens is tightly regulated by the number of helpers in incipient nests

Parental care behaviour in bumble bee queens is tightly regulated by the number of helpers in incipient nests

Does sharing bring happiness? Understanding the sharenting phenomenon

The rapid changes in the field of technology have made the use of social media one of the routines in the life of the individual. This behaviour of parents who share information about their children with pictures, videos, stories, and status updates on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp is defined as “Sharenting”. Parents sharing information about their children on social media brings with it many risks. Children who do not realise the possible risks due to their age are abused by their primary caregivers. Understanding the experience of Sharenting, which is seen as a present danger to children, motivated the researchers to conduct this research. From this point of view, the aim of this research is to understand the reasons and effects of social media sharing of parents about their children. In this study, which was carried out in the phenomenological design of the qualitative research method, twelve participants were reached with the snowball sampling method. The data collected from the participants were obtained with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. The semi-structured interview form consisted of nine open-ended questions, each of which was aimed at understanding the sharenting phenomenon. Within the scope of the research, online interviews were conducted with each participant with ZOOM Meeting, which lasted an average of 40 min. The interviews with the participants were transcribed. The obtained data were subjected to content analysis independently by three researchers who conducted the research. Afterwards, the research team evaluated the themes and categories determined by each researcher and finalised the findings. As a result, it was seen that the sharing experiences of the participants were gathered under six different themes. These themes were determined as sharenting “reasons”, “actions”, “platforms”, “effects”, “criteria”, and “awareness”. The reasons for sharenting of the participants were determined as “Collecting Memories”, “Affectivity”, “Staying in Communication”, “Approval/Being Liked”, “Providing Benefit with Followers”, “Followers/Relatives Reaction”, and “Change in Routine”. When the participants shared, “Increased Social Media Use”, “Evil Eye Anxiety”, “Positive Affect”, “The Feeling of Being a Good Woman/Good Parent”, “Addiction”, “Wondering About Others”, “Temporary Happiness”, and “Neutral Effect” effects were found. In the absence of sharing, the effects of “Neutral Effect”, “Impulse to Share”, and “Feeling Inadequate” were determined. The findings are presented by giving exemplary quotations for each theme.

Parental investment, school choice, and the persistent benefits of an early childhood intervention

We present evidence from a randomised experiment testing the impacts of a six-month early childhood home-visiting program on child outcomes and parental investment behaviour at school entry. Two and a half years after completion of the program, we find large persistent effects on parental investment at home, as well as large effects on preschool enrolment. Children in treatment villages were enrolled earlier and in higher quality preschools, the latter reflecting a shift in preferences over preschool attributes towards quality. Finally, we find evidence that the program increased child working memory, but do not find strong evidence of impacts on other cognitive sub-domains or on non-cognitive skills of children at school entry.