R01HD103666

Synthesizing, Interpreting, and Extrapolating Interventions to Foster Human Development - Other Project Information – Project Summary/Abstract

"Synthesizing, Interpreting, and Extrapolating Interventions to Foster Human Development" is a project that aims to support diverse scholars of early childhood development in investigating the sources of treatment effects of successful early childhood programs and comparing the growth of skills by age across them. The project draws on a wealth of data collected on three influential programs: the Perry Preschool Program, the Abecedarian Project, and Jamaica Reach Up and Learn, as well as subsequent implementations and adaptations.

The research team has actively designed, collected, and analyzed different subsets of these programs, which were evaluated by random assignment. Some programs have long-term follow-ups. The research has five main aims:

1. Using common dynamic analytical frameworks developed and applied in different disciplines, the team will analyze longitudinal data on the growth of comparable measures of skills and outcomes from major early childhood interventions targeted to disadvantaged children, while controlling for family and environmental conditions. Mediation and moderation analyses will be conducted to control for the endogeneity of intervention-induced changes in mediators and moderators. The intra- and inter-generational impacts of the interventions will be examined with long-term follow-up, taking participants well into their middle age (ABC) and late middle age (Perry). These analyses will adjust for attrition and non-response. Both large sample inferential methods and design-based small-sample randomization inference will be used. Measures and outcomes will be harmonized and required to satisfy metric invariance criteria.

2. Building on previous research, the team will use empirically validated dynamic models to forecast experimental outcomes out-of-sample. The project will develop theoretically and empirically grounded tools to estimate the long-run impacts of short-run interventions, which will be made available to other practitioners.

3. The project will update and extend cost-benefit analyses of early childhood programs. For the first time, impacts on adult children and siblings, as well as impacts on middle age and late middle age health and earnings of the original participants, will be incorporated. The impact of early childhood programs on social mobility will also be investigated.

4. The effectiveness of home visiting programs will be examined. The influential Jamaica Reach Up and Learn home visiting program, as well as many programs inspired by it, will be analyzed. Child growth trajectories from these programs will be compared with those from more comprehensive omnibus early childhood programs, many of which have a home visiting component. This analysis will facilitate the isolation of the role of home visiting in promoting child development.

5. The project will investigate in detail the roles of parent (caregiver)-child, home visitor-child, and home visitor-caregiver interactions in promoting skill development in a uniquely well-documented adaptation of Jamaica Reach Up: China Reach (10 sites). The impact of "scaffolding" measured on a weekly basis on the growth of child skills will be quantitatively assessed.

National Bureau Of Economic Research

TO CONDUCT AND SUPPORT LABORATORY RESEARCH, CLINICAL TRIALS, AND STUDIES WITH PEOPLE THAT EXPLORE HEALTH PROCESSES. NICHD RESEARCHERS EXAMINE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, BIOLOGIC AND REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS, BEHAVIOR PATTERNS, AND POPULATION DYNAMICS TO PROTECT AND MAINTAIN THE HEALTH OF ALL PEOPLE. TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF DISABILITIES, DISEASES, AND DEFECTS ON THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS. WITH THIS INFORMATION, THE NICHD HOPES TO RESTORE, INCREASE, AND MAXIMIZE THE CAPABILITIES OF PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DISEASE AND INJURY. TO SPONSOR TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SCIENTISTS, DOCTORS, AND RESEARCHERS TO ENSURE THAT NICHD RESEARCH CAN CONTINUE. BY TRAINING THESE PROFESSIONALS IN THE LATEST RESEARCH METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES, THE NICHD WILL BE ABLE TO CONDUCT ITS RESEARCH AND MAKE HEALTH RESEARCH PROGRESS UNTIL ALL CHILDREN, ADULTS, FAMILIES, AND POPULATIONS ENJOY GOOD HEALTH. THE MISSION OF THE NICHD IS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY PERSON IS BORN HEALTHY AND WANTED, THAT WOMEN SUFFER NO HARMFUL EFFECTS FROM REPRODUCTIVE PROCESSES, AND THAT ALL CHILDREN HAVE THE CHANCE TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL FOR HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES, FREE FROM DISEASE OR DISABILITY, AND TO ENSURE THE HEALTH, PRODUCTIVITY, INDEPENDENCE, AND WELL-BEING OF ALL PEOPLE THROUGH OPTIMAL REHABILITATION.

93.865 - Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) [HHS - NIH]

Cambridge, Massachusetts 021385359 United States

Single Zip Code

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 04/30/26 to 01/31/27 and the total obligations have increased 409% from $596,967 to $3,041,208.