Texting parents about early child development: Behavioral changes and unintended social effects

Oscar Barrera-Rodríguez, Karen Macours (), Patrick Premand and Renos Vakis
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Oscar Barrera-Rodríguez: UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin]
Karen Macours: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Patrick Premand: BM = WB - La Banque Mondiale = The World Bank - WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale
Renos Vakis: BM = WB - La Banque Mondiale = The World Bank - WBG = GBM - World Bank Group = Groupe Banque Mondiale

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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 translate into improvements in 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.

Date: 2026
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Published in Journal of Development Economics, inPress, pp.103833. ⟨10.1016/j.jdeveco.2026.103833⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-05650372

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2026.103833

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