Kindergarteners’ Social and Emotional Skills in Qatar: Caregivers’ Qualification or Caregivers’ Parenting Beliefs That Make a Difference?

Abstract

The study aimed to identify if kindergarten caregivers’ qualifications or their parental beliefs make a difference in promoting 4 - 6 years old children’s social and emotional skills. The main focus of this research is the lack of caregivers’ qualifications and their beliefs about childrearing that affect children’s social and emotional skills. The study used a descriptive correlational design, the study purposefully recruited the sample that consisted of 59 kindergarten children (55.9% female and 44.1% male) aged between 4 and 6 years and their teachers to participate in the study, in two age groups (KG1 and KG2). Tow questionnaires were designed (Parenting Style Perception Tool PSPT) to assess caregivers’ parental beliefs by evaluating their authoritative and authoritarian beliefs and (Children’s Social and Emotional Competencies Scale SECS) to assess children’s social and emotional skills. The results revealed no significant relationship between caregivers’ qualifications and parenting beliefs. The results also indicated that caregivers held an authoritarian parenting belief. However, it showed a significant relationship between the caregiver’s authoritarian beliefs and children’s social subscales of self-awareness, social awareness, interpersonal, and social skills, but no significant relationship between the caregiver’s authoritarian beliefs and the subscale of self-control. Recommendations and implications are presented.