What Mothers Know About Child Development and Parenting in Qatar

Abstract

Maternal knowledge is important to parenting behaviors, children’s development and well-being. Mothers’ knowledge of child development has been shown to have a significant influence on the way mothers interact with their children and the learning opportunities they provide. This study was carried out to determine the level of maternal knowledge of child development and whether the level of knowledge varies by content area for mothers living in Qatar. The study also examined the relationship between maternal demographic characteristics and general and specific knowledge levels. The sample of mothers (N = 263) completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) together with the Catalog of Previous Experience with Infants (COPE). Findings indicated that mothers’ knowledge about typical child deployment, developmental norms and milestones is poor. Implications in terms of parent education and clinical practice are discussed.

Parental Knowledge of Children’s Developmental Milestones in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…Four-fifths of the participants received a “poor” score on the overall assessment, as they answered less than 40% of the total questions correctly. It is interesting to note that a similar level of knowledge was reported among Albertan adults [ 8 ], while higher scores were reported among other Arab populations [ 7 , 13 ]. Such differences in results could be related to a variety of reasons.…”

“…A child's ability to roll over, crawl, stand, walk, and run are crucial milestones in neurological development, and parents' awareness of possible signs of delay is vital in ensuring proper child development [ 5 , 6 ]. Due to parents being the main caregivers of children in their earlier years, parental awareness of developmental milestones helps them create a healthy environment, have appropriate expectations, and interact positively with their child [ 7 – 9 ]. It has previously been observed that parents with a low level of knowledge about child development demonstrated neglectful and abusive behaviors towards their children, and they were frustrated by the incompatibility of their expectations with their child's development [ 10 ].…”

“…Public health education programs need to know a targeted population's baseline level of knowledge about children's developmental milestones to be able to apply an appropriate interventional approach that will result in maximum outreach [ 11 , 12 ]. In Arabic literature, few studies have been conducted to measure parental knowledge of developmental milestones [ 7 , 13 , 14 ]. In Saudi Arabia, little has been reported about parental knowledge of developmental milestones, with only one study revealing pediatricians noticing a gap between maternal knowledge and children's health issues [ 15 ].…”

Maternal Adaptation in the Role of Caring for and Rearing 12-Month-old abies

“…In that sense, the experience of taking care of a baby enables the mother to have a greater knowledge about the child's development (Al-Maadadi & Ikhlef, 2015), which can help reduce the feelings of concern. In addition, it is expected that the mother identify with the baby (Winnicott, 1969(Winnicott, /1993 at the same time she diff erentiates herself from the child, assuming a stance of emotional maturity (Barbosa et al, 2010).…”

A Vivência Materna da Função de Cuidar no Período de Dependência da Criança

“…De modo geral, a literatura tem dado pouca ênfase à vivência materna da função de cuidar, e maior destaque para outros temas, como a percepção da mãe sobre a expressão das emoções das crianças (Krippl, Ast-Scheitenberger, Bovenschen, & Spangler, 2010); o uso de emoção no discurso materno e paterno dos anos iniciais à idade préescolar (van der Pol et al, 2015); o conhecimento das mães sobre desenvolvimento infantil (Al-Maadadi & Ikhlef, 2015); a rotina de cuidados durante a infância (Haavind, 2011) e os sentimentos maternos frente aos estágios de desenvolvimento dos filhos (Luthar & Ciciolla, 2016).…”