Effects of a Parental Training Program on the Monitoring and Promotion of Expressive Language Development in Early Childhood in Waritchaphum District, Sakon Nakhon Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study employed a two-group pretest-posttest design with the objective to examine the effects of a parental training program on the monitoring and promotion of expressive language development in early childhood. Samples consisted of 68 parents or guardians responsible for the care of children aged 0–5 years who resided in Waritchaphum district, Sakon Nakhon province. They were divided into an experimental group and a comparison group, with 34 persons in each group. Intervention was a parent training program developed by the researchers, conducted over a period of 4 weeks. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using statistics including frequencies, percentages, medians, minimums, maximums, Wilcoxon signed rank test, paired t-test, Mann Whitney U test, and independent t-test.

The results showed that, after the intervention, the experimental group had significantly higher levels than those from the comparison group in these regards: knowledge (z=-4.895, p-value<0.001), skills (t=-9.776, p-value<0.001), perceived self-efficacy (t=-8.170, p-value<0.001), social support (t=-0.202, p-value<0.001), and awareness in monitoring and promoting early childhood language development (t=-2.651, p-value<0.001). Therefore, relevant agencies should continuously promote training programs that focus on enhancing parental skills in monitoring and supporting early childhood language development.