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Parenting in the Preschool System in Malaysia

21 maj 2026 uppdaterad av: DrJamieLachman, University of Oxford

Cluster Randomised Trial of a Hybrid Human-digital Playful Parenting Programme in the Malaysian Preschool System

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a hybrid human-digital playful parenting programme, "Naungan Kasih-Hybrid (NK-Hybrid)", in Malaysia. The programme is facilitated by teachers from Malaysian preschools for low-income families, consisting of a) one in-person session to introduce caregivers to the programme, b) teacher-facilitated WhatsApp support groups, and c) an interactive chatbot-led parenting programme featured on WhatsApp, called "Naungan Kasih-Text (NKText)". It tests the effectiveness of this package in a cluster-randomised trial, with 50 preschools as clusters, randomly assigned to either the treatment group or a waitlist control group. Findings from this study will provide evidence for the effectiveness of a low-cost and scalable intervention integrating digital modalities with a "light-touch" in-person component to improve educational outcomes in children attending preschools for low-income families, and thereby address social inequalities in Malaysia.

N = 50 Clusters, 772 Primary Caregivers, 304 Secondary Caregivers, and 754 Children. Enrolment reflects participating primary caregivers.

Studieöversikt

Status

Avslutad

Betingelser

Intervention / Behandling

Detaljerad beskrivning

The primary aims of the study are to:

Evaluate the effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on positive parenting at three months post-baseline in comparison to wait-list controls Evaluate the effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on child learning and development, as measured by parent and teacher reports of language and communication, literacy, socioemotional, and numeracy skills, and by direct assessments of literacy and numeracy skills, at approximately 12 months post-baseline in comparison to wait-list controls

Secondary aims of the study include:

Evaluate the sustained effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on positive parenting at approximately 12 months post-baseline.

Evaluate the effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on children's learning, namely their literacy and numeracy skills, in comparison to the control group, at three months post-baseline Evaluate the effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on secondary outcomes - parent involvement in playful learning, child maltreatment (physical and emotional abuse), caregiver anxiety and depression, parenting stress, child externalising symptoms, child learning and development, caregiver financial stress, intimate partner violence, marital health, co-parenting support, father involvement, and gender equitable behaviours - at approximately three months post-baseline and 12 months post-baseline.

Evaluate the intervention costs and cost-effectiveness of NK-Hybrid on primary outcomes of positive parenting and child literacy and numeracy skills.

Evaluate the association between engagement in the NK-Hybrid intervention and primary and secondary outcomes.

Explore potential mediators of positive parenting, child literacy and numeracy skills, child maltreatment, child externalising symptoms, and caregiver depression and anxiety at 12 months post-baseline.

Explore potential moderators of positive parenting, child literacy and numeracy skills, child maltreatment, child externalising symptoms, and caregiver depression and anxiety based on socio-demographics and psychosocial assessments at baseline

In line with the study's primary and secondary objectives, the following hypotheses have been defined a priori and will be evaluated using the methods outlined in this statistical analysis plan.

Hypothesis 1a: Caregivers in the treatment group will show higher levels of positive parenting, in comparison to the control group, at 3 months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 1b: Children in the treatment group will show greater improvements in early learning and development, namely their literacy and numeracy skills, in comparison to the control group, at 12 months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 2a: Caregivers in the treatment group will show higher levels of positive parenting, in comparison to the control group, at 12 months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 2b: Children in the treatment group will show greater improvements in learning, namely their literacy and numeracy skills, in comparison to the control group, at three months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 2c: Caregivers in the treatment group will show lower levels of child maltreatment (physical and emotional abuse), anxiety and depression, parenting stress, child externalising symptoms, financial stress, and intimate partner violence, in comparison to the control group, at 3 months and 12 months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 2d: Caregivers in the treatment group will show higher levels of parent involvement in playful learning, marital health, co-parenting support, father involvement, and gender equitable behaviours in comparison to the control group, at 3 months and 12 months post-baseline.

Hypothesis 3a: The intervention will be more cost-effective than the control condition for the primary outcomes, yielding a cost per unit of effect that supports decision-making by relevant stakeholders.

Hypothesis 3b: Higher engagement with intervention components (i.e., in-person onboarding, NKText, and WhatsApp support groups) will be associated with greater improvements in the aforementioned primary and secondary outcomes.

Studietyp

Interventionell

Inskrivning (Faktisk)

772

Fas

  • Inte tillämpbar

Kontakter och platser

Det här avsnittet innehåller kontaktuppgifter för dem som genomför studien och information om var denna studie genomförs.

Studieorter

  • Malaysia
      • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
        • Universiti Putra Malaysia

Deltagandekriterier

Forskare letar efter personer som passar en viss beskrivning, så kallade behörighetskriterier. Några exempel på dessa kriterier är en persons allmänna hälsotillstånd eller tidigare behandlingar.

Urvalskriterier

Åldrar som är berättigade till studier

  • Vuxen
  • Äldre vuxen

Tar emot friska volontärer

Ja

Beskrivning

Inclusion Criteria:

Preschools (clusters):

  • Registered Ministry of Rural Development (KEMAS) preschool
  • Has a class of 20 or more children aged 4-6 years
  • Selected by KEMAS leadership as available to participate
  • Class teacher is willing to deliver the programme and participates in programme training

Parents/Caregivers:

  • Responsible for a child aged 4-6 years enrolled in a participating KEMAS preschool
  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Has access to a mobile phone compatible with WhatsApp
  • Provides informed consent

Children:

  • Enrolled in a participating KEMAS preschool
  • Aged 4-6 years
  • Parent provides consent
  • Provides verbal assent

Teachers (Facilitators):

  • Registered employee with a KEMAS preschool
  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Diploma/certificate in Early Childhood Education (ECE) or equivalent
  • Provides consent
  • Completed training
  • Available to deliver intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parents/caregivers who do not meet inclusion criteria
  • Children who do not meet inclusion criteria

Studieplan

Det här avsnittet ger detaljer om studieplanen, inklusive hur studien är utformad och vad studien mäter.

Hur är studien utformad?

Designdetaljer

  • Primärt syfte: Förebyggande
  • Tilldelning: Randomiserad
  • Interventionsmodell: Parallellt uppdrag
  • Maskning: Enda

Vapen och interventioner

Deltagargrupp / Arm
Intervention / Behandling
Experimentell: Intervention Group
Intervention group participants will receive one in-person onboarding session, NKText - a self-guided chatbot providing parenting support, and facilitated WhatsApp support groups.
Beteende: Naungan Kasih Positive Parenting Programme
The programme is facilitated by teachers from Malaysian preschools for low-income families, consisting of a) one in-person session to introduce caregivers to the programme, b) teacher-facilitated WhatsApp support groups, and c) an interactive chatbot-led parenting programme featured on WhatsApp, called "Naungan Kasih-Text".
Inget ingripande: Control Group
The control group will not receive the intervention until after the completion of the intervention period and the final follow-up data collection. Throughout the study period, participants in all groups may access any other interventions, programs, or services that are not part of the study intervention.

Vad mäter studien?

Primära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Child early learning and development
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Children's early learning and development (caregiver- and teacher-report) will be measured using 23 items from the National Preschool Standards-Based Curriculum Assessment (Malaysia); scale = 0-2; higher score indicates better outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Positive Parenting
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Positive parenting will be measured using 14 items from the Parenting Young Children Scale (PARYC) (McEachern et al., 2012). (Caregiver Report); (0-6); higher score indicates better outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Child Literacy and Numeracy
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Direct child assessments of child learning and development will be conducted by trained research assistants and assessed using an adapted version of the Remote Assessment of Learning (ReAL) High-Access version (Save the Children International, 2021), specifically the Literacy and Numeracy subscales. 12 domains, total score = mean of % correct for each domain; higher score indicates better outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline

Sekundära resultatmått

Resultatmått
Åtgärdsbeskrivning
Tidsram
Parent involvement in playful learning
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Parent involvement in playful learning will be measured using four items from the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) Child Development Module/Family Care Indicators (Kariger et al., 2012). (4 items) (0-8 times in last two weeks) - higher indicates more playful learning activities (better outcome)
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Child Maltreatment
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Child maltreatment will be measured using six items from the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool (Meinck et al., 2018), covering physical violence (two items) and psychological violence (four items). (Parent Report); (0-8 times in last two weeks) - higher indicates more incidence of abuse (worse outcome)
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Child externalising symptoms
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Child externalising symptoms will be assessed using 12 items from the externalising subscale of the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI) (Cianchetti et al., 2013); (0-2); higher score indicates worse outcome
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Parenting Stress
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Parenting stress will be assessed using six items from the Parenting Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 2016); (0-5); higher score indicates worse outcome
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Anxiety and depression
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Anxiety and depression will be assessed using four items from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) Scale (Kroenke et al., 2009); (0-3); higher score indicates worse outcome
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Father involvement with the child
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Father involvement with the child will be assessed using seven items from an adapted version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Involvement Subscale (Frick, 1991); (0-4); higher score indicates better outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Gender equitable behaviours
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Gender equitable behaviours will be assessed using four items informed by measures commonly used in violence prevention research (Abramsky et al., 2020; Doyle et al., 2018); (1-5); higher score indicates better outcome
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Co-parenting support
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Co-parenting support will be assessed using six items from the Co-parenting Relationship Scale (Feinberg et al., 2012); (0-3); higher score indicates better outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Marital health/quality
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Marital health/quality will be assessed using five items developed by the research team; (1-5); higher score indicates better outcome
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Intimate partner violence
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Intimate partner violence will be assessed using four items adapted from the World Health Organisation study on women's health and domestic violence against women (World Health Organization, 2005); (0-3); higher score indicates worse outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Financial Stress
Tidsram: Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline
Financial stress will be assessed using six items adapted from the Financial Self-Efficacy Scale (Lown, 2012); (0-3); higher score indicates worse outcome.
Baseline, 3-5 months post-baseline, 12-15 months post-baseline

Samarbetspartners och utredare

Det är här du hittar personer och organisationer som är involverade i denna studie.

Sponsor

University of Oxford

Samarbetspartners

Universiti Putra Malaysia

Publikationer och användbara länkar

Den som ansvarar för att lägga in information om studien tillhandahåller frivilligt dessa publikationer. Dessa kan handla om allt som har med studien att göra.

Användbara länkar

Studieavstämningsdatum

Dessa datum spårar framstegen för inlämningar av studieposter och sammanfattande resultat till ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter och rapporterade resultat granskas av National Library of Medicine (NLM) för att säkerställa att de uppfyller specifika kvalitetskontrollstandarder innan de publiceras på den offentliga webbplatsen.

Studera stora datum

Studiestart (Faktisk)

10 juli 2024

Primärt slutförande (Faktisk)

17 oktober 2025

Avslutad studie (Faktisk)

17 oktober 2025

Studieregistreringsdatum

Först inskickad

14 maj 2026

Först inskickad som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

14 maj 2026

Första postat (Faktisk)

20 maj 2026

Uppdateringar av studier

Senaste uppdatering publicerad (Faktisk)

27 maj 2026

Senaste inskickade uppdateringen som uppfyllde QC-kriterierna

21 maj 2026

Senast verifierad

1 maj 2026

Mer information

Termer relaterade till denna studie

Nyckelord

Ytterligare relevanta MeSH-villkor

Andra studie-ID-nummer

  • R94406/RE001
  • 10.17605/OSF.IO/AZ3NY (Registeridentifierare: Prospectively registered on Open Science Framework on 17/08/24; ClinicalTrials.gov entry retrospective and consistent.)

Plan för individuella deltagardata (IPD)

Planerar du att dela individuella deltagardata (IPD)?

JA

IPD-planbeskrivning

De-identified individual participant data underlying the results reported in publications, including demographic variables, caregiver-reported outcomes, and child assessment outcomes.

Tidsram för IPD-delning

Deidentified participant data will be available beginning 12 months after publication of the planned article publication to allow completion of planned secondary analyses by the study team; no end date for availability.

Kriterier för IPD Sharing Access

Requests for access will require submission of a brief description of the intended use. Requests will be reviewed by the study team. Access will be granted following approval of the request and completion of appropriate data access procedures.

IPD-delning som stöder informationstyp

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAV
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Läkemedels- och apparatinformation, studiedokument

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Nej

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Nej

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