Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at risk for adverse early development and school readiness outcomes; low parent literacy is common and an important contributing factor. While prevention programs have sought to improve child outcomes by promoting positive parenting practices such as reading aloud, there has been limited evidence of whether such programs have impacts for parents with low literacy in LMICs. This study investigated: (1) whether parent literacy is associated with parent–child reading aloud interactions, the overall cognitive home environment, and child language and cognitive outcomes; and (2) whether impacts of a toddler/preschool reading aloud program differ depending on parent literacy among low-income families in northern Brazil. We performed a secondary analysis of a single-blind cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a parenting intervention (Universidade do Bebê [UBB]) implemented in educational childcare centers in Boa Vista, Brazil. UBB consisted of: (1) a lending library in which children’s books were borrowed weekly; and (2) monthly parent workshops focused on reading aloud. Control families received usual care without the reading aloud program. Five hundred and six mother-infant dyads (279 intervention; 287 control) were enrolled at mean (SD) child age 37.4 (6.5) months. Parents and children were evaluated at baseline/enrollment and approximately 6–9 months later. Measures: (1) Predictor/moderator: parent literacy; (2) Parent outcomes: parent–child interaction during shared storybook reading; cognitive home environment; (3) Child outcomes: expressive and receptive vocabulary; IQ; working memory and short-term phonological memory. Analyses accounted for baseline performance, sociodemographics, and clustering within centers and sites. Parent literacy was positively associated with parent–child verbal/reading interactions and child developmental outcomes, supporting our first hypothesis, that low parent literacy would be associated with lower quantity and quality of parent–child reading and lower scores on assessments of child development. UBB had positive impacts on parent–child interaction, cognitive stimulation, IQ, and receptive vocabulary for both high and low literacy parents, contrary to our second hypothesis, that low parent literacy would be associated with reductions in impacts of the reading aloud intervention. The comparable impacts of a reading aloud program on parent–child verbal/reading interactions and child cognitive outcomes regardless of parent literacy level suggest that preventive interventions in LMICs should consider promotion of shared reading even for low-literacy families.

低收入和中等收入国家的儿童面临不利的早期发展和入学准备结果的风险；父母识字率低是常见且重要的因素。预防方案试图通过促进积极的养育方式（例如大声朗读）来改善儿童的结局，但是，只有很少的证据表明此类方案是否对低收入和中等收入国家低识字率的父母产生影响。这项研究调查了：（1）父母的读写能力是否与亲子朗读互动，整体认知家庭环境以及儿童语言和认知结果有关；（2）巴西北部低收入家庭的父母识字率对幼儿/学龄前儿童朗读计划的影响是否有所不同。贝贝大学[UBB]）在巴西Boa Vista的教育育儿中心实施。UBB包括：（1）一个借书图书馆，每周在其中借阅儿童读物；（2）每月一次的家长研讨会，重点是大声朗读。对照家庭没有大声朗读程序就得到了常规护理。在平均（SD）儿童年龄37.4（6.5）个月时登记了506个母婴二联组（279例干预； 287例对照）。在基线/入学时以及大约6-9个月后对父母和孩子进行评估。措施：（1）预测者/主持人：父母素养；（2）父母的结局：共享故事书阅读过程中的亲子互动；认知家庭环境；（3）儿童结局：表达和接受的词汇；智商; 工作记忆和短期语音记忆。分析说明了基准效果，社会人口统计学，并在中心和站点内聚集。父母识字率与亲子言语/阅读互动和儿童发育结果呈正相关，这支持了我们的第一个假设，即父母识字率低与亲子阅读量和质量降低，儿童发育评估得分较低有关。与我们的第二个假设相反，UBB对父母双方的互动，认知刺激，智商和接受性词汇都具有积极影响，这与我们的第二个假设相反，即父母双亲识字率会降低阅读朗读干预的影响。