The Relation between Social Development Indicators in Early Childhood and Parenting Practices

Abstract

The first institution in which a child interacts with his/her social environment is the family. At this point, parenting practices take their place as an important concept in the literature. The concept of social competence is based on the interaction of individuals with sociocultural contexts such as family, school, and peer relations. Early childhood is a critical phase for promoting social competence in children. In this sense, the research examines the relationship between the parenting practices of parents and their children's social development. A relational screening method was used in the quantitative designed research. In the first step of the study, the validity and reliability analyses of the Social Skills Scale for Preschool Children (SSS) were made. 301 parents participated in the analyses. In the second step of the study, the relationship between children's social development indicators and their parents' parenting practices was examined. In this context, 226 children and their parents participated in this study. In the study, the Personal Information Form, and SSS filled by teachers for children to evaluate children's social skills, and the Parenting Practices Scale-Preschool Form to evaluate parenting practices of the parents of the children participating in the research were used. It was concluded that the SSS for preschool children, which was adapted into Turkish within the scope of the study, consisted of three sub-dimensions. These are; cooperation, self-control, and interpersonal relationships. According to the results of the reliability analysis of the scale, the total α coefficient was .96, while the total variance explained because of the construct validity was 69,66. According to the results of the research, the SSS consisting of 3 factors and 24 items adapted into Turkish is a valid and reliable tool. In the study, the correlation value between the scales was also calculated to examine the relationship between children's social development indicators and their parents' parenting practices, and no significant relationship was found between the scales.