Family Functions upon Underweight Pre-school Children Families

บทคัดย่อ

This cross-sectional descriptive research studied family functions in families of underweight pre-school children. The sample comprised 86 family members of underweight pre-school children, residing in communities of Sating Pra District, Songkhla Province, by using cluster random sampling technique. Data were collected during April - June 2006, through face-to-face interviews.  The questionnaire covered demographic data of family and underweight pre-school children as well as the five dimensions examining family’s perceived functions, according to Friedman (1998) conceptual framework, in caring for their underweight children. Open-ended questions regarding obstacles and supporting factors that could help improve family functions were also asked. Content validity was verified by 3 experts. Reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, yielding the value of 0.86. Data were analyzed by using frequency distribution, mean scores, and standard deviation.

Findings showed that majority of the study families had an overall family function mean score at a high level, with a mean score of 1.57 (range 1.35-1.73), on the scale of 0-2. Mean scores of family functions in the five dimensions were also reported at a high level: emotional attachment 1.73 (range 1.20-1.91), providing basic physical needs 1.64 (range 1.06-1.93), providing financial support 1.62 (range 1.49-1.78), parental control 1.53 (range 1.03-1.74), and problem-solving 1.35 (range 0.85-1.64).  In conclusion, our study revealed that families of underweight pre-school children were concerned about caring properly for their underweight children. Nurses and health care providers should thus be engaged in delivering proper care services, particularly problem-solving strategies, to supporting family functions in this regard.