The effect of family communication skills psycho-educational program on 5-6 years old children's social-emotional adjustment

Abstract

In this study, the effects of a structured Family Communication Skills Psycho-education Program on 5-6 years-old children's social-emotional adjustment were examined. Quasi - experimental pre-test and post-test with control group design was used in the study. 24 parents and their 5-6-years-old children participated in the study. In the experimental group, 12 parents were taken into the psycho-education program and the program was planned and applied for a total of eight weeks, one day a week. Effective Communication Skills and Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation-30 (SCBE - 30) Scales were used as data collection tools and Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon Singed Ranks Tests were used in the analysis of the data in this research. As a result of the analyses, it was found that the experimental group's children had a positive change in the social competence and anxiety-introversion sub-scale of social emotional adjustment after the program; however there was not significant difference in the anger-aggression test scores. Meanwhile there was not significant difference in the anxiety-introversion and anger-aggression sub-scales of the control group's children; however, the social competence mean score decreased. The averages of the children in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group's. In the study, the findings were discussed and recommendations were presented together with the educational implications.