Background: The presence of child disabilities might affect the amount of caregiving attention the child receives, with potential ramifications on the development of the child and increasing the likelihood of developing a more severe condition. Little is known about the association between child disabilities and caregiving practices in less developed countries, penalized by both lack of data and a research bias toward western societies. Method: In this study, we apply data mining methods on a large (N = 29,525) dataset from UNICEF to investigate the association between caregiving practices and developmental disabilities of the children, and highlight the differences between intellectual and other disabilities. Results: Our results highlight that, compared to other types of disabilities, intellectual disabilities increased the risk of being neglected by the caregiver in those activities oriented to the cognitive development. The education of the caregiver and the socioeconomical development of the country are actively involved in the moderation of the risk. Conclusion: We demonstrated that educational policies of parental training, such as psychoeducation regarding intellectual disabilities and destigmatization campaigns, are needed to benefit parental practices in low-and middle-income countries. developmental disabilities: parental involvement: low middle income countries; caregiving; child discipline; child education What this paper adds: The paper makes use of a data-driven approach to uncover patterns of caregiving practices in an often overlooked population of children with disabilities in low-and middleincome countries. Using current theories of caregiving, child care and child neglect, the paper integrates these findings with already established frameworks of parental caregiving.

Little is known about parenting in the context of developmental disabilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), penalized by both lack of data and a research bias toward western societies. In this study, we apply data mining methods on a large (N = 25,048) dataset from UNICEF to highlight patterns of association between developmental disabilities of children and parental involvement. We focus on the co-presence of multiple disabilities and the quality of childcare in three parenting domains: discipline, caregiving, and education. Our results show that, in LMIC, children with more severe developmental conditions are also more likely to receive low-quality parental care. Specific policies of parental training are needed to improve parental practices in LMIC.

Background: The presence of child disabilities might affect theamount of caregiving attention the child receives, in turn preventing the development of the child and causing a more severe condition. Little is known about the association between child disabilities and caregiving practices in less developed countries, penalized by both lack of data and a research bias toward western societies. Method: In this study, we apply data mining methods on a large (N = 24,295) dataset from UNICEF to investigate the association between caregiving practices and developmental disabilities of the children and highlight the differences between intellectual and other disabilities. Results: Our results highlight that, compared to other types of disabilities, intellectual disabilities increased the risk of being neglected by the caregiver in those activities oriented to the cognitive development. The education of the caregiver and the socioeconomical development of the country are actively involved in the moderation of the risk. Conclusion: We demonstrated that specific policies of parental training are needed to benefit parental practices in LMIC contexts.