向家长发送关于儿童早期发展的短信：行为变化与非预期的社会效应
Texting parents about early child development: Behavioral changes and unintended social effects
Journal of Development Economics · 2026 · [{"name": "Oscar Barrera-Rodríguez", "affiliation": ["University College Dublin"]}, {"name": "Karen Macours", "affiliation": ["Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement", "Paris School of Economics"]}, {"name": "Patrick Prémand", "affiliation": ["World Bank", "World Bank Group"]}, {"name": "Renos Vakis", "affiliation": ["World Bank", "World Bank Group"]}]
中文摘要
育儿干预有望改善儿童早期发展。短信被视为一种以低成本传播育儿信息的有前景渠道。本文检验发送有关育儿做法的短信是否会影响儿童早期发展。尼加拉瓜农村家庭被随机分配接收有关营养、健康、刺激和家庭环境的信息。该干预使自我报告的育儿做法发生了显著变化, 但并未改善儿童的认知发展。当地方意见领袖被随机接受同样的短信干预时, 父母的投资下降, 儿童的结果恶化。这些负面效应在受教育程度最低的照护者的子女中最为强烈。由于父母与意见领袖之间关于儿童发展的互动也有所减少, 这些负面效应可能源于地方领袖努力被挤出。
Abstract
Parenting interventions have the potential to improve early childhood development. Text messages are considered a promising channel to diffuse parenting information at low cost. This paper tests whether sending text messages about parenting practices impacts early childhood development. Households in rural Nicaragua were randomly assigned to receive messages about nutrition, health, stimulation and the home environment. The intervention led to significant changes in self-reported parenting practices. However, it did not improve children’s cognitive development. When local opinion leaders were randomly exposed to the same text message intervention, parental investments declined and children’s outcomes deteriorated. These negative effects were strongest for children of the least educated caregivers. Since interactions between parents and leaders about child development also decreased, the negative effects may have resulted from a crowding-out of efforts by local leaders.