RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of using an educational booklet and a video alone or together in promoting maternal self-efficacy to prevent childhood diarrhea. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Randomized multicenter clinical trial with 522 mothers of children under 5 years of age from northeastern Brazil. They were allocated into eight groups, according to the city: metropolis - video alone (N = 61), booklet alone (N = 60), booklet and video along (N = 60), without intervention (N = 60); countryside - booklet alone (N = 70), video alone (N = 70), booklet and video along (N = 71), without intervention (N = 70). MEASUREMENTS: A sociodemographic form and the Maternal Self-Efficacy Scale for preventing early childhood diarrhea. RESULTS: Increases in self-efficacy scores were observed in all experimental groups after the educational intervention. Urban mothers living had greater self-efficacy than rural mothers. This result was verified in the video alone group (p = .036) and without intervention group (p = .003). Mothers in all intervention groups, regardless of the educational intervention used, had higher self-efficacy scores than the comparison group mothers (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The tested educational technologies promoted maternal self-efficacy to prevent childhood diarrhea, regardless of whether they are applied alone or in combination.