Assessment of parental nurturing and associated social, economic, and political factors among children in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory (WB/oPt)

Nouh Harsha,Margaret A Lynch,Rita Giacaman,Luay Ziq

doi:10.1186/s12887-020-02317-0

Abstract

BackgroundParental nurturing expressed through love and affection is a broad concept that entails caring for children and their activities, encouraging them and praising their achievements. Lack of love and affection makes children more susceptible to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression across their life time. This study aims to evaluate parental nurturing and associated social, economic, and political factors among Palestinian children living in the West Bank (WB).MethodsSecondary data representative of the Palestinian children living in the WB was used to estimate parental nurturing for children aged 0–12 years as reported by their mothers. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted, followed by multivariate analysis for all predictors found significant in the bivariate analysis using SPSS® version 20.Results19.90% (231/1162) of children experienced low levels of parental nurturing. No statistically significant differences were detected by the child’s gender. Children with high levels of parental nurturing were those aged 0–6 years, children who were last in the family index, children with no disability, children exposed to low to medium levels of disciplinary methods, children from urban areas, children living in North WB, and children whose families were not subjected to political violence.ConclusionsOverall, Palestinian mothers reported high levels of parental nurturing towards their children. However, about one-fifth of Palestinian children are at risk of experiencing low levels of parental nurturing. Efforts should be placed in addressing the health and welfare needs of these high-risk children’s groups.

Highlights

Parental nurturing expressed through love and affection is a broad concept that entails caring for children and their activities, encouraging them and praising their achievements
Parental nurturing varied by children’s age group: 16.2% of children aged less than six years; 20.5% of children aged 10 to 12 years, and 33.8% of children aged 10 to 12 years experienced low levels of parental nurturing (p < .05). 18.9% of nondisabled children had low levels of parental nurturing compared to 27.9% of children with one or more disabilities (p < .05). 14.8% of children subjected to low to medium levels discipline had low levels of parental nurturing compared to 30.3% of children subjected to high levels discipline (p < .05). 14.7% of children whose families were not subjected to political violence had low levels of parental nurturing compared to 27.3% of children whose families experienced political violence (p < .05)
Children exposed to low to medium levels of discipline were more likely to have high levels of parental nurturing compared to children subjected to high levels of discipline [Odds ratio (OR) = 2.16, 95%Confidence interval (CI) (1.54–3.03)]

Summary

Introduction

Parental nurturing expressed through love and affection is a broad concept that entails caring for children and their activities, encouraging them and praising their achievements. Lack of love and affection makes children more susceptible to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression across their life time. Several studies demonstrate a negative association between low parental nurturing and social behavior, academic success, and work achievement [8, 9]. Russell has examined the relationship between child misbehavior and the positive parental interaction and reported that love and affection are negatively associated with children’s misbehavior and hostility [14]. Lack of love and affection and poor parent child relationship has been shown to make children more susceptible to psychological disorders such as stress, anxiety and depression [4, 15]

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