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Socioemotional Skills in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Maternal Psychosocial Intervention

Author

Listed:
  • Sevim, Dilek

    (University of Basel)

  • Baranov, Victoria

    (University of Melbourne)

  • Bhalotra, Sonia R.

    (University of Warwick)

  • Maselko, Joanna

    (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

  • Biroli, Pietro

    (University of Bologna)

Abstract

We study the formation of social and emotional skills in the first three years of life, and investigate the impact of a cluster-randomized peer-led psychosocial intervention targeting perinatally depressed mothers in rural Pakistan. The intervention significantly improved maternal mental health, especially among mothers of boys. It resulted in imprecisely estimated increases in parental investment, and modest but transitory improvements in child's socioemotional skills. A descriptive analysis of mechanisms reveals that the intervention modified the production function of children's skills, by lowering the productivity of maternal mental health in the first 12 months of life. It moved outcomes for depressed women closer to outcomes for women not depressed during pregnancy.

Suggested Citation

  • Sevim, Dilek & Baranov, Victoria & Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Maselko, Joanna & Biroli, Pietro, 2023. "Socioemotional Skills in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Maternal Psychosocial Intervention," IZA Discussion Papers 15925, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15925
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ghazala Azmat & Katja Maria Kaufmann & Yasemin Özdemir, 2023. "Socioemotional Development During Adolescence: Evidence from a Large Macro Shock," SciencePo Working papers hal-04350544, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    mental health; stress; socioemotional; RCT; child development; technology of skill formation; gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • O2 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy

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