Journal of Education & Social Policy

Educational Attainments and Parenting Related Information associated with Parenting Skills in Mothers of Preschooler in Taiwan
Ming-JaeLo, Chin-Kai Lin, Bor-Chen Kuo

Abstract
Background: The objective of this study was to self-develop a questionnaire assessing the parenting skills of mothers with preschooler, and to examine the association between demographic factors, parenting related information and parenting skills performance in Taiwanese mothers of 3-6 year-old-children. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study covering 19 cities and counties of Taiwan, preschooler mother (71% 31–40 years; 59.6% college or university education levels) were recruited from certified public or private preschools. Using stratified random sampling, we distributed 1,200 copies of a self-designed Mother Parenting Skills Questionnaire (MPSQ) and collected 974 effective samples. Results: The MPSQ was a 4-point scale and divided into nine parenting skill dimensions. The MPSQ Cronbach’s? was .983, a test-retest showed a value of .892, and the explained variance amounted to 70.02%.The survey revealed that the overall parenting skill of Taiwanese mothers approximated toward the “satisfactorily met the criteria” score (M=2.96).Preschooler mothers’ skills for meeting children’s basic needs were excellent (M = 3.21). In descending order of excellence, these mothers also possessed skills related to the socialization (M = 3.03), generalization (M = 3.02), behavioral counseling (M = 3.01), personality adaptations and simultaneous learning (M = 2.97), mastery (M = 2.96), initiative (M = 2.95), preparation for parenting (M = 2.88), and Gestalt learning (M = 2.66). Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that performed better in overall parenting skill was predicted by mothers acquired parenting skills from professionals or physicians (ß= 0.236), who had a master’s degree or a higher educational level (ß=0.217), acquired parenting skills from parenting seminars (ß= 0.127), rather than from relatives and friends (ß= -0.107), or TV media (ß= -0.091), which explained13.2% of the variance of mother parenting skills. Conclusion: The proposed MPSQ is good reliability and construct validity, can be used as the standardization tool for assessing parenting skills of the mothers of preschooler, and help them identify the advantage and weaknesses in their parenting skills and accordingly provide relevant recommendations for improvement. Mothers who had a master’s degree or a higher educational attainment, and parenting related information from professionals or physicians, parenting seminars contribute to mothers’ development of better parenting skills.

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