Effectiveness of early childhood interventions in promoting cognitive development in developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Nirmala RAO, Jin SUN, Eva E. CHEN, Patrick IP

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

53 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to compare the effectiveness of different types of early childhood interventions in enhancing cognitive development of children in developing countries, and to identify factors related to intervention efficacy. Method: The meta-analysis included 106 interventions from 62 studies in 30 developing countries, published between 1992 and 2012. Participants included 43,696 children below 8 years. Results: Results indicated that comprehensive programs were the most effective (g=1.05), followed by child-focused education and stimulation (g=0.64), parent-focused support (g=0.44), income supplementation (g=0.23), and nutrition and health interventions (g=0.11), respectively. Conclusions: Early childhood development interventions were effective in improving cognitive development of children in developing countries. The largest effect sizes were associated with comprehensive programs which may be scaled up, taking into account the country context. Copyright © 2017, Medcom Limited.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)14-25
JournalHong Kong Journal of Paediatrics
Volume22
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Citation

Rao, N., Sun, J., Chen, E. E., & Ip, P. (2017). Effectiveness of early childhood interventions in promoting cognitive development in developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics, 22(1), 14-25.

Keywords

  • Cognitive development
  • Developing countries
  • Early childhood intervention
  • Meta-analysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effectiveness of early childhood interventions in promoting cognitive development in developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.