Kako roditelji procenjuju razvoj svoje dece?

Abstract

Objective. Parents are a primary source of information in the development and daily functioning of a child. The aim of this study was to explore how parents evaluate the development of their child, and which developmental domains are the most concerning for them. Furthermore, to determine whether the parent concerns are associated with the child's age, parental educational level or the place of residence. Methods. The questionnaires were completed by 143 parents of typically developing children, aged 20 to 70 months (the mean 43.50 months, standard deviation 13.6). The Child Development Inventory (CDI) with 270 items covering eight developmental domains along with general development was used. Results. A high positive correlation was obtained between all subscales (≥0.70). There were no statistically significant differences in the assessment of the child's development in regard to parental educational level, or their place of residence but a statistically significant difference was obtained between assessments made by parents of the children, who belong to five different age groups (Kruskal-Wallis test, p≥0.005). The results indicate that a high percentage of parents assess their children to be unsuccessful or insufficiently mature in the socialization scale as well as on the scales of gross motor skills, as well as expressive and receptive language skills. Parents of children aged five years of age indicate the most concern on the scale of general development. Conclusion. The use of screening instruments which are completed in cooperation with parents provides a more comprehensive outlook on a child's psychomotor development. The results point to a necessity of providing additional support to parents of pre-school children who have expressed the most concern with their child development.