A new study that examined 132 families with psychosocial burdens (e.g., poverty and migration) living around the Zurich area in Switzerland has revealed that their children enrolled in the Parents as Teachers’ home visiting program showed positive impact during the first three years after the birth and two years after the end of the program.
Published in the Swiss Journal of Educational Research, the Zurich Equity Prevention Project with Parents Participation and Integration (ZEPPELIN) research study, one of the largest longitudinal home visiting studies in Europe, with a randomized controlled study design, shows that in the first year of kindergarten, children with Parents as Teachers showed better German skills, higher self-regulation, and fewer behavioral problems.
Also, 116 families in the control group did not receive any intervention apart from general services provided by municipalities. This contribution shows that early support continues to have an impact two years after the end of the Parents as Teachers program. In contrast, no effects were found concerning intelligence and mathematical skills. These findings are relevant against the background of the long-term goal of increasing educational opportunities through early education measures.
“This study further validates the benefits of Parents as Teachers evidence-based home visiting model and the positive impact it has on reducing behavioral problems during the first year of kindergarten and beyond,” said Allison Kemner, Parents as Teachers vice president of research and quality.
Parents as Teachers home visiting professionals partner with parents and child and family-serving organizations to improve early development, learning, and health outcomes for children while strengthening families through parent education programs. The ZEPPELIN study provides the Parents as Teachers home visiting model to families in Switzerland experiencing social burdens.
Cites: Schaub, S., Eberli, R., Ramseier, E., Neuhauser, A., & Lanfranchi, A. (2021). Early support with the program «PAT – Mit Eltern Lernen»: Effects in the first year of Kindergarten. Swiss Journal of Educational Research, 43(2), 285–296. https://doi.org/10.24452/sjer.43.2.8