Peer-reviewed article
Examining How National Levels of Life Expectancy, Education, and Income Influence Early Childhood Development: The Mediating Role of the Child's Nurturing Context
W. Andrew Rothenberg, Marc H. Bornstein, Diane L. Putnick, Jennifer E. Lansford ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined data from nearly 160,000 families with children aged 3-5 years across 51 low- and middle-income countries to understand how national development factors (life expectancy, education, and income) affect early childhood development. The research found that these national factors work indirectly through the quality of home nurturing care—including caregiver practices, learning materials, safety, nutrition, and health conditions. Higher caregiver education, cognitive caregiving practices, and access to learning materials were consistently linked to better child development outcomes across all income levels.
Key points
- 43% of children under 5 in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not meeting their developmental potential
- National life expectancy had a direct association with childhood development; education and income worked indirectly through nurturing care factors
- Caregiver cognitive caregiving practices promoted childhood development regardless of national development levels
- Key mediating factors included reduced caregiver violence, increased learning materials, wired appliances in the home, caregiver education, and child nutrition
- Interventions should focus on caregiver education, discipline strategies, cognitive caregiving practices, and family access to learning materials and adequate nutrition
Limitations
The study uses cross-sectional data, so causality cannot be established; national-level indicators may mask important variation within countries, and the findings are most generalizable to low- and middle-income countries rather than high-income settings.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Forty-three percent of children younger than 5 years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at risk of not meeting their developmental potential. This study investigated how 3 aspects of national development (national life expectancy, education, and income levels) are associated with early childhood development by influencing 5 domains of nurturing care (caregiving, the learning environment, safety and security, nutrition, and the health of the home environment). METHODS: In total, 159,959 families with children aged 36 to 59 months living in 51 LMICs provided data. National development was measured using 3 indicators (national life expectancy, education, and income levels), and nurturing care was measured using 10 indicators that collectively captured the 5 nurturing care domains. Path analyses examined how nurturing care indicators mediated the effects of national development on early childhood development. RESULTS: Higher national life expectancy was directly associated with more advanced childhood development. Higher national levels of education and income were indirectly associated with more advanced childhood development through aspects of nurturing care, such as reduced caregiver psychological aggression or physical violence, increased learning materials and wired appliances in the home environment, and greater caregiver education and child height-for-age. Greater caregiver cognitive caregiving practices promoted childhood development, regardless of levels of national development. CONCLUSION: Intervening to promote caregiver education, appropriate discipline strategies, cognitive caregiving practices, and family access to wired appliances, learning materials, and adequate nutrition is key to promoting childhood development in nations with lower levels of national development.