Using Behavioral Insights in Early Childhood Interventions: the Effects of Crianza Positiva E-Messaging Program on Parental Investment

We study whether an e-messaging program rooted on behavioral economic insights helps improve parental investment and sustain commitment over time. Treated families received text and audio messages three times a week for 24 weeks. The messages were designed to help parents reorient their attention towards positive parenting goals, simplify complex parental tasks, and reinforce positive identities. Using an RCT design on 24 early childhood centers in Uruguay, we find that the intervention increased the frequency of parental involvement by 0.24 standard deviations and improved several measures of parenting quality by a similar magnitude. The effects were larger for families experiencing more negative shocks and lower negative identity at baseline, suggesting the program may have triggered the right channels.