HealthDay News — Reading books together is associated with psychosocial benefits in both children and parents, according to a review published online March 27 in Pediatrics.

Qian-Wen Xie, from the University of Hong Kong, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of parent-child book reading (PCBR) interventions on the psychosocial functioning of children and parents. The authors included 19 interventions involving 3,264 families.

The researchers found that PCBR interventions improved the psychosocial functioning of children and parents compared with controls (standardized mean difference, 0.185). Between-group variance was associated with moderator variables: method of data collection (observation less than interview) and rater (reported by others less than self-reported). The effects of PCBR interventions on psychosocial outcomes of parents or children did not significantly differ.

“It seems prudent to consider the application of PCBR in improving the psychosocial well-being of families, especially those at high risk,” the authors write.

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