Home visiting interventions for social-emotional development in children from low-income households: A meta-analysis

Home visiting interventions provide in-home services to underserved families to improving family functioning, promoting child development, and supporting families’ physical and mental health. They are typically delivered between pregnancy and age five, a sensitive period for children’s development. Although home visiting interventions are generally associated with positive developmental outcomes, less is known about their effects on children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior and social-emotional development. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized literature from the past decade to evaluate whether recently administered home-visiting interventions support these outcomes. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted searches among 5 databases, which yielded 16 articles after abstract/full-test screening. Data were extracted, and Hedges’ g was computed for relevant behavioral or social-emotional outcomes with sufficient quantitative data available. Risk of bias was assessed following Cochrane guidelines. We conducted qualitative analysis on the 16 articles, and 15 articles were included in the meta-analysis. Qualitative synthesis indicated mixed results across behavioral and social-emotional outcomes. The meta-analysis indicated that home visiting interventions showed significant effects on the reduction of total problem behaviors. Overall, these findings suggest that home-visiting interventions are beneficial for reducing problem behaviors in early childhood, although effects on other social-emotional outcomes remain inconsistent and warrant further investigation.