A follow-up study that examined 132 families experiencing psychosocial burdens (e.g., poverty and migration) living around the Zurich area 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 that participated in 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 program.
This study further validates the long-term benefits of the Parents as Teachers evidence-based home visiting model.
Reference: 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