An Integrated Mother-Child Intervention on Child Development and Maternal Mental Health

To evaluate an integrated, low-cost, facility-based group intervention designed to promote child care, boost maternal mental-wellbeing, reduce harsh discipline, and improve children's health, nutrition, and early development.

In Dhaka, 30 neighborhood clusters of a low-income urban community were randomized to intervention or control groups. Mothers with children between 6 and 24 months (n = 300) who self-reported negative discipline were identified and enrolled. A 1-year group intervention included integration of responsive caregiving, nutritional supplementation, caregivers' mental health, child protection, and health advice. Child outcomes were cognition (primary) and language, motor and behavioral development, growth, and hemoglobin and iron status (secondary). Maternal outcomes were depressive symptoms, self-esteem, negative discipline, and child care knowledge and practices.

Overall, 222 (74%) mother-child dyads participated in the 1-year follow-up. Intervention and control groups differed on wealth, with no other significant differences. The intervention resulted in a 0.75 SD effect on cognition, 0.77 SD on language, 0.41 SD on motor, and 0.43 to 0.66 SDs on behavior during testing (emotion, cooperation, and vocalization) in the intervention arm. Mothers in the intervention group had fewer depressive symptoms (effect size: -0.72 SD), higher self-esteem (0.62 SD), better child care knowledge (2.02 SD), fewer harsh discipline practices (0.25 SD), and better home stimulation (0.73 SD). The intervention showed no effect on child growth or hemoglobin, but significantly improved serum iron status (-0.36 SD).

A comprehensive intervention, delivered through group sessions in health facilities, was effective in promoting child development and reducing maternal depressive symptoms among mothers who reported using negative or harsh discipline.