Parent relationship and family factors affecting the development and emotional quotient in pre-school children

Abstract

This research examined the correlation between parent relationship and family factors affecting the development and emotional quotient in pre-school children; it was conducted in a group of children age 4 to 5 who were studying at schools in Warin Chamrap District of Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand. The sample group included 229 pre-school children studying in Kindergarten 1 and 229 mothers. The sample group was selected by Multistage Random Sampling. The research instruments consisted of a questionnaire to find out the parent relationship, DENVER II Assessment Form and the Emotional Quotient Assessment test for children at ages 3-5. The data collection period was from 23 February - 20 March 2009. The data analysis was done through Chi-Square and Multiple Regression Analysis. The results showed that about 55.0% of pre-school children had normal development while 45.0% had suspected delays. The most common developmental delays in those children fell under language development. The second most common developmental delays were the fine motor skill and adaptability. Regarding the emotional quotient in pre-school children, the emotional quotient of 38.4% should be encouraged, while 34.1% must be encouraged, and 27.5% had a good emotional quotient. According to the correlation between parent relationship and family factors affecting pre-school children, the family income was the single issue significantly correlated to the development of pre-school children at a statistically significant level of 0.05 (X = 20.416). Regarding the correlation between parent relationship and family factors affecting the emotional quotient of pre-school children, the parent relationship in terms of family cohesion and parent communications were the variables positively and significantly affecting the emotional quotient of pre-school children at a statistically significant level of 0.05 (b = 0.593, 2.129, respectively). In respect to family factors, it was found that the family income was a factor negatively and significantly affecting the emotional quotient of pre-school children at a statistical significantly level of 0.05 (b = -1.245). Finally, the parent relationship and family factors could jointly forecast the emotional quotient in pre-school children with the forecast value at 5.9% (R Square = 0.059).