Abstract
1 out of every 5 children under 5 years of age is at risk of not fulfilling their development potential because of early exposure to conflict and forced displacement. We report the results from a randomized trial of a community-based psychosocial
program that promotes maternal mental health as an outcome and as a pathway
to foster nurturing child-mother relationships that can protect young children from
the effects of conflict and forced displacement. We implemented the program in
Colombia, a country torn by ongoing conflict, with caregivers who have suffered
conflict-related violence or have been forcefully displaced. Eight months after the
program ended, we found positive intent-to-treat effects of 0.14 standard deviations
(sd) on maternal mental health; 0.27 sd on the quality of child-caregiver interactions;
0.13 sd on the style of child-caregiver interactions; 0.17 sd on early childhood mental
health; and of 0.21 sd on early-childhood development. Our findings speak to the
need and feasibility of psychosocial programs in fragile and conflict-affected settings.