N Rao, J Sun, EE Chen, P Ip

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.