IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hka/wpaper/2015-011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effects of Two Influential Early Childhood Interventions on Health and Healthy Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriella Conti

    (University College London)

  • James J. Heckman

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Rodrigo Pinto

    (The University of Chicago)

Abstract

This paper examines the long-term impacts on health and healthy behaviors of two of the oldest and most widely cited U.S. early childhood interventions evaluated by the method of randomization with long-term follow-up: the Perry Preschool Project (PPP) and the Carolina Abecedarian Project (ABC). There are pronounced gender effects strongly favoring boys, although there are also effects for girls. Dynamic mediation analyses show a significant role played by improved childhood traits, above and beyond the effects of experimentally enhanced adult socioeconomic status. These results show the potential of early life interventions for promoting health.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriella Conti & James J. Heckman & Rodrigo Pinto, 2015. "The Effects of Two Influential Early Childhood Interventions on Health and Healthy Behaviors," Working Papers 2015-011, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2015-011
    Note: ECI, HI
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Conti_etal_2015_health-effects.pdf
    File Function: First version, July 2015
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4, June.
    2. Pedro Carneiro & Costas Meghir & Matthias Parey, 2013. "Maternal Education, Home Environments, And The Development Of Children And Adolescents," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11, pages 123-160, January.
    3. Augustine Denteh & Daniel L. Millimet & Rusty Tchernis, 2019. "The origins of early childhood anthropometric persistence," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 2185-2224, June.
    4. Matt Dickson & Paul Gregg & Harriet Robinson, 2016. "Early, Late or Never? When Does Parental Education Impact Child Outcomes?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 184-231, October.
    5. Jens Ludwig & Jeffrey R. Kling & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2011. "Mechanism Experiments and Policy Evaluations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 17-38, Summer.
    6. James J. Heckman & Jeffrey Smith & Nancy Clements, 1997. "Making The Most Out Of Programme Evaluations and Social Experiments: Accounting For Heterogeneity in Programme Impacts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 487-535.
    7. Short, S.E. & Yang, Y.C. & Jenkins, T.M., 2013. "Sex, gender, genetics, and health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(SUPPL.1), pages 93-101.
    8. D'Onise, Katina & Lynch, John W. & Sawyer, Michael G. & McDermott, Robyn A., 2010. "Can preschool improve child health outcomes? A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1423-1440, May.
    9. Gabriella Conti & James Heckman & Sergio Urzua, 2010. "The Education-Health Gradient," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 234-238, May.
    10. Matthews, Sharon & Manor, Orly & Power, Chris, 1999. "Social inequalities in health: are there gender differences?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 49-60, January.
    11. James Heckman & Rodrigo Pinto & Peter Savelyev, 2013. "Understanding the Mechanisms through Which an Influential Early Childhood Program Boosted Adult Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2052-2086, October.
    12. James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
    13. James Heckman & Seong Hyeok Moon & Rodrigo Pinto & Peter Savelyev & Adam Yavitz, 2010. "Analyzing social experiments as implemented: A reexamination of the evidence from the HighScope Perry Preschool Program," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 1(1), pages 1-46, July.
    14. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2014. "Healthy habits: The connection between diet, exercise, and locus of control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-28.
    15. Conti, Gabriella & Heckman, James J., 2012. "The Economics of Child Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 6930, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Muennig, P. & Schweinhart, L. & Montie, J. & Neidell, M., 2009. "Effects of a prekindergarten educational intervention on adult health: 37-Year follow-up results of a randomized controlled trial," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(8), pages 1431-1437.
    17. Conti, Gabriella & Hansman, Chris, 2012. "Personality and the education-health gradient," ISER Working Paper Series 2012-20, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    18. Conti, Gabriella & Hansman, Christopher, 2013. "Personality and the education–health gradient: A note on “Understanding differences in health behaviors by education”," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 480-485.
    19. Bjornson, W. & Rand, C. & Connett, J.E. & Lindgren, P. & Nides, M. & Pope, F. & Buist, A.S. & Hoppe-Ryan, C. & O'Hara, P., 1995. "Gender differences in smoking cessation after 3 years in the Lung Health Study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(2), pages 223-230.
    20. Muennig, P. & Robertson, D. & Johnson, G. & Campbell, F. & Pungello, E.P. & Neidell, M., 2011. "The effect of an early education program on adult health: The Carolina abecedarian project randomized controlled trial," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(3), pages 512-516.
    21. Barnett, W.S. & Masse, Leonard N., 2007. "Comparative benefit-cost analysis of the Abecedarian program and its policy implications," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 113-125, February.
    22. Taylor Jr., D.H. & Hasselblad, V. & Henley, S.J. & Thun, M.J. & Sloan, F.A., 2002. "Benefits of smoking cessation for longevity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(6), pages 990-996.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriella Conti & James J. Heckman & Rodrigo Pinto, 2016. "The Effects of Two Influential Early Childhood Interventions on Health and Healthy Behaviour," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 28-65, October.
    2. Conti, Gabriella & Heckman, James J., 2012. "The Developmental Approach to Child and Adult Health," IZA Discussion Papers 7060, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Peter A. Savelyev & Kegon T. K. Tan, 2019. "Socioemotional Skills, Education, and Health-Related Outcomes of High-Ability Individuals," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 5(2), pages 250-280, Spring.
    4. Attanasio, Orazio & Blundell, Richard & Conti, Gabriella & Mason, Giacomo, 2020. "Inequality in socio-emotional skills: A cross-cohort comparison," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. Marco Francesconi & James J. Heckman, 2016. "Child Development and Parental Investment: Introduction," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 1-27, October.
    6. Chih‐Sheng Hsieh & Hans van Kippersluis, 2018. "Smoking initiation: Peers and personality," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(2), pages 825-863, July.
    7. Peter A. Savelyev, 2014. "Psychological Skills, Education, and Longevity of High-Ability Individuals," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 14-00007, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    8. Yann Algan & Elizabeth Beasley & Frank Vitaro & Richard Tremblay, 2014. "The Impact of Non-Cognitive Skills Training on Academic and Non-academic Trajectories: From Childhood to Early Adulthood," Working Papers hal-03429906, HAL.
    9. Orazio Attanasio & Sarah Cattan & Emla Fitzsimons & Costas Meghir & Marta Rubio-Codina, 2020. "Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Colombia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(1), pages 48-85, January.
    10. Kai Hong & Peter A. Savelyev & Kegon T. K. Tan, 2020. "Understanding the Mechanisms Linking College Education with Longevity," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 371-400.
    11. Lindsey Macmillan & Emma Tominey, 2023. "Parental inputs and socio-economic gaps in early child development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1513-1543, July.
    12. James J. Heckman & Stefano Mosso, 2014. "The Economics of Human Development and Social Mobility," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 689-733, August.
    13. Esteban García-Miralles & Miriam Gensowski, 2020. "Are Children's Socio-Emotional Skills Shaped by Parental Health Shocks?," CEBI working paper series 20-21, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    14. Orazio Attanasio & Sarah Cattan & Emla Fitzsimons & Costas Meghir & Marta Rubio-Codina, 2015. "Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1987, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    15. Briole, Simon & Le Forner, Hélène & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2020. "Children’s socio-emotional skills: Is there a quantity–quality trade-off?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    16. Heckman, James J. & Humphries, John Eric & Veramendi, Gregory & Urzua, Sergio, 2014. "Education, Health and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 8027, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Michael Grossman, 2015. "The Relationship between Health and Schooling: What’s New?," NBER Working Papers 21609, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Victor Lavy & Giulia Lotti & Zizhong Yan, 2022. "Empowering Mothers and Enhancing Early Childhood Investment: Effect on Adults’ Outcomes and Children’s Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 821-867.
    19. Gabriella Conti & Andrea Galeotti & Gerrit Müller & Stephen Pudney, 2013. "Popularity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(4), pages 1072-1094.
      • Pudney, Stephen & Conti, Gabriella & Galeotti, Andrea & Mueller, Gerrit, 2009. "Popularity," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
      • Gabriella Conti & Andrea Galeotti & Gerrit Mueller & Stephen Pudney, 2012. "Popularity," NBER Working Papers 18475, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health; early childhood intervention; social experiments; randomized trial; Abecedarian Project; Perry Preschool Project;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2015-011. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jennifer Pachon (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mfichus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.