Relationship between Preschool Child-Mother Interaction, Child's Health Status, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Social Development

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine relationship of preschool child and mother interaction, child's health status, health-related quality of life and social development. Also, it was intended to provide a basis for development of mother-child interaction programs. METHODS: The present study was a descriptive research. Participants in this study were a convenience sample of 230 preschool children and their mothers. For the final analysis 209 questionnaires were used after eliminating questionnaires with incomplete responses. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 18.0 program. RESULTS: The mean score for interaction between preschool child and mother was 3.96+/-0.55 out of 5 points, for child health status, 3.75+/-0.62 out of 5 points, for child's health-related quality of life, 83.89+/-10.20 out of 100 points and for child's social development, 19.66+/-3.57 out of 24 points. Positive correlations were found between interaction of preschool child and mother, child's health status, health-related quality of life, and social development. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the importance of the quality of the relationship between mother, the child's primary caregiver, and her child for the healthy growth and development of preschool children. It is suggested that intervention programs for preschool child-mother interaction should be developed using evidence based data.