Resumen 

In this paper, we study whether a text and audio messaging program delivered after a parenting workshop, is effective to increase parental investment and reinforce the commitment of parents to their parental tasks. The messaging program is one of the components of "Crianza Positiva", an intervention for parents of children aged 0-2 designed to promote good parenting practices. Treated families received text and audio messages three times a week for 24 weeks. The messages were aimed at helping parents reorient their attention towards positive parenting practices, simplify complex parental tasks into simpler ones, establish new parenting habits, and reinforce positive identities. We evaluated the intervention using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the program in 24 Child and Family Care Centers (CAIF) in Uruguay. We found that the messaging intervention increased: parental investment as measured by a parental time investment index, parental engagement in social activities with the child, parental competences as measured by a positive parenting index, parental outreach for social support and parents' reflective capacity. In all cases, the effects range around 0.24 standard deviations.

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