2023-07-25-世界银行-暴力管教与父母行为_虚拟育儿支持对照顾者的短期和中期影响_94页_7mb

Report Summary

Introduction

This research examines the impact of a virtually-delivered parenting program (virtual Irie Homes Toolbox, vIHT) on positive parenting practices in Jamaica. It investigates short-term and medium-term effects of the vIHT on caregivers' attitudes, knowledge, behaviors related to violence against children, mental health, and their children's emotional well-being.

Key Findings

1. Effectiveness in Improving Parenting Practices：

   • The virtual program led to significant improvements in caregivers' attitudes toward Violence Against Children (VAC), with a 0.2 SD reduction (p < 0.01) in the VAC index in the short term, and persistent effects in the medium term (0.14 SD).
   • Caregivers reduced Violence Against the Target Child (VATC) by 0.12 SD (p < 0.05) immediately post-intervention, with effects persisting 9 months later (0.13 SD reduction, p < 0.05).

2. Knowledge Acquisition：

   • Caregivers in the treatment group scored significantly higher on the information module, with 0.53 SD improvement in short-term and 0.39 SD improvement in medium-term (both p < 0.01).
   • Over 92% of weekly SMS messages were sent and successfully received.

3. Mental Health Outcomes：

   • Significant reductions in caregiver depression (0.12 SD, p < 0.1), anxiety (0.16 SD, p < 0.05), and stress (0.16 SD, p < 0.05) were observed in the medium term.

4. Child Emotional Problems：

   • Children of treatment caregivers showed 0.17 SD reduction in emotional problems (p < 0.01) in the short term.

5. Mechanisms：

   • Improvements in parental self-efficacy (0.21 SD reduction in distress index, p < 0.01) drove many positive outcomes.
   • Learning effects were strengthened with increased virtual session attendance.

Sample and Implementation

• Sample: 1,113 caregivers (557 treatment, 556 control), recruited via mobile network and schools.
• Delivery: The program consisted of 30 SMS messages, access to a data-free App, and 10 weekly virtual group sessions.
• Take-up: High engagement with SMS/WhatsApp (92% sent); moderate engagement with virtual sessions (mean attendance 4.6 out of 10 sessions).

Policy Relevance

• The intervention demonstrates the scalability and effectiveness of digital parenting support in reducing violence against children, with cost-effectiveness relative to in-person programs.
• Results encourage the development of low-cost digital behavioral change interventions for global parenting support.