Background

Despite evidence on their short-term effectiveness, the long-term effects of group-based parenting interventions are unclear, programs are hard to scale up, and effects on parents of infants and toddlers are mixed.

Objective

We evaluate the impact of a parenting intervention, Crianza Positiva, that combines 8 group sessions with a 6 months e-messaging component. The program targets parents of infants and toddlers, is designed to be scalable by using low-cost delivery formats and a structured framework, and relies on a “top up” module to sustain the effects.

Methods

We analyze video-recordings of a free play activity to rate the quality of child-caregiver interaction. We compare outcomes across three arms: (a) workshop + messages, (b) workshop only, and (c) a weekly unstructured playgroup. Because assignment to treatment is not random, we use inverse probability weighting to address initial unbalances and differential attrition. Our sample includes 442 disadvantaged families with infants/toddlers enrolled in early childhood centers in Uruguay.

Results

Results show significant and sustained benefits of the program on child-caregiver interaction quality, with medium effect sizes in the affective (d = 0.44) and teaching dimensions (d = 0.59).

Conclusions

The data suggest that group parenting interventions may help improve the childrearing environment among parents of children aged 0–2. Due to its protocolized design and the low cost of integrating it into early-childhood centers, the program has a potential for widespread implementation. Still, definitive conclusions are precluded by the evaluation design. Future randomized designs are needed.

中文翻译：

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Crianza Positiva：结合小组研讨会和电子信息来加强育儿能力

背景

尽管有证据表明其短期有效性，但基于团体的育儿干预措施的长期影响尚不清楚，计划很难扩大规模，而且对婴幼儿父母的影响也参差不齐。

客观的

我们评估了一项名为Crianza Positiva的育儿干预措施的影响，该干预措施结合了 8 次小组会议和 6 个月的电子消息传递部分。该计划针对婴幼儿父母，旨在通过使用低成本交付形式和结构化框架进行扩展，并依靠“充值”模块来维持效果。

方法

我们分析免费游戏活动的视频记录，以评估儿童与看护者互动的质量。我们比较三个部门的结果：（a）研讨会+信息，（b）仅研讨会，以及（c）每周一次的非结构化游戏小组。由于治疗分配不是随机的，因此我们使用逆概率加权来解决初始不平衡和差异磨损。我们的样本包括 442 个在乌拉圭幼儿中心就读的有婴儿/幼儿的弱势家庭。

结果

结果显示，该计划对儿童-看护者互动质量产生了显着且持续的益处，在情感（ d  = 0.44）和教学维度（d  = 0.59）方面具有中等效果。

结论

数据表明，团体育儿干预可能有助于改善0-2岁儿童家长的育儿环境。由于其协议化设计以及将其整合到幼儿中心的低成本，该计划具有广泛实施的潜力。尽管如此，评估设计仍无法得出明确的结论。未来需要随机设计。