Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5768-5931
Date of Award
8-31-2026
Document Type
Campus Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Global Inclusion and Social Development
First Advisor
Valerie Karr
Second Advisor
Nada Ali
Third Advisor
Matias Placencio-Castro
Abstract
Early childhood development is shaped by children’s relationships, caregiving environments, social norms, material conditions, and institutional systems. This three-paper dissertation examines factors affecting early childhood development among marginalized families participating in Sugira Muryango, a family-strengthening and early childhood development home-visiting intervention in Rwanda. Guided by ecological systems theory, the Nurturing Care Framework, and transdisciplinary, critical development, human-rights, and social-justice perspectives, the study analyzes secondary quantitative data on father participation, gender dynamics, and developmental differences associated with early stunting.
Paper 1 examines variation in fathers’ participation and associations between participation and caregiving, gender attitudes, mental health, disciplinary practices, and violence-related outcomes. Fathers attended approximately 73% of intervention sessions, and greater participation was associated with selected outcomes, including more equitable gender attitudes, although behavioral changes were inconsistent and varied by district. Paper 2 examines whether men’s gender-equitable attitudes were associated with caregiving, shared decision-making, and family relationships. More equitable attitudes were linked to selected caregiving behaviors but were not consistently associated with shared decision-making or reduced violence. Paper 3 examines developmental change among children who entered the intervention with and without stunting. Children experiencing early nutritional vulnerability benefited from strengthened caregiving environments, although differences persisted in selected developmental, behavioral, and physical-growth outcomes.
Across the studies, findings demonstrate that child and family outcomes emerge through interacting individual, relational, contextual, and institutional pathways. The dissertation recommends integrating effectiveness and implementation outcomes, developing partnerships with complementary programs, and adopting phased strategies for financing, institutionalization, and sustainability to support equitable child development at sustainable scale.
Recommended Citation
Murray, Shauna M., "Factors Affecting Early Childhood Development in Marginalized Contexts: Evidence on Family Dynamics, Social Norms, and Developmental Inequalities in Rwanda" (2026). Graduate Doctoral Dissertations. 1168.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1168
Comments
Free and open access to this work is made available to the UMass Boston community by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. Those not on campus and those without a UMass Boston campus username and password may gain access to this work through Interlibrary Loan. If you have a UMass Boston campus username and password and would like to download this work from off-campus, click on the “Off-Campus Users” button.