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Informing Mothers about the Benefits of Conversing with Infants: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Pascaline Dupas

    (Princeton University, NBER, and CEPR)

  • Camille Falezan

    (MIT)

  • Seema Jayachandran

    (Princeton University)

  • Mark Walsh

    (Stanford University)

Abstract
Despite the well-established importance of verbal engagement for infant language and cognitive development, many parents in low-income contexts do not converse with their infants regularly. This paper reports on a randomized field experiment evaluating a low-cost intervention designed to boost verbal engagement with infants. The intervention entails showing recent or expectant mothers a 3-minute informational video and providing them with a themed wall calendar. Six to eight months later, mothers who participated reported a stronger belief in the benefits of verbally engaging with infants, more frequent parent-infant conversations, and more advanced language and communication skills of their infants. Treatment effects on objective measures of parent-child conversation (from a recording device) and infant language and cognitive skills (from surveyors’ observations) were statistically insignificant but consistently positive. We find larger effects on objectively measured parent-child conversation immediately after the intervention, suggesting scope for a larger long-term effect had the behavior change stuck more. The intervention’s potential for low-cost implementation via health clinics makes it a promising strategy for early childhood development in low-income contexts, particularly if complemented by efforts to support habit formation.

Suggested Citation

  • Pascaline Dupas & Camille Falezan & Seema Jayachandran & Mark Walsh, 2024. "Informing Mothers about the Benefits of Conversing with Infants: Experimental Evidence from Ghana," Working Papers 324, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:cepsud:324
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    File URL: https://gceps.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wp324_Jayachandran_infant_speech.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Madeline Duhon & Lia Fernald & Joan Hamory & Edward Miguel & Eric Ochieng & Michael W. Walker, 2024. "Intergenerational Human Capital Impacts and Complementarities in Kenya," NBER Working Papers 32617, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ghana; early childhood development; infant-directed speech; human capital; information intervention;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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