Child Routines at Home and Social Competence of Preschool Children’s

Keywords

Child Routines; Preschool; And Social Competence.

Introduction

Popular parenting literature has often emphasized the importance of establishing predictable child routines at home during early childhood. Although, emerging empirical research has provided some evidence for the importance of child routines at home [3, 5], understanding of the role that child routines play in the development of preschool children is still limited [5], particularly preschool children’s in Ethiopia. The current study focused on Ethiopian parents with preschool-aged children. In Ethiopia, the importance of setting child routines at home and its relationship with social competence of preschool children’s has not been forwardedfor parents, teachers and significant other, rather it is likely hindered by the co-parenting roles commonly taken by extended family members such as grandparents and caregivers. Therefore, it is important to establish whether child routines at home are important to domains of preschool children’s in Ethiopia, and if so, how consistency in child routines at home may be correlated with social competence preschool children’s. In the world, child routines at home have attracted researchers’ interest since the 1950s, and they both concern repeated practices that involve two or more family members [7]. In the current study, we focus on child routines at home, which can be viewed as child routines pertaining to the parents.

. Sytsma, Kelley, and Wymer (2001) [16] defined child routines as “observable, and repetitive behaviors which directly involve the child and at least one adult acting in an interactive or facilitator role, and which occur with predictable regularity in the daily and/ or weekly life of the child. Common child routines at home for preschool children include activities pertaining to play, manipulating materials, painting, story telling, reading, mealtimes, bedtime and others [5].

Some researchers have also conceptualized parents’ consistency in reinforcing discipline and other behaviors as a component of child routines at home [17, 18]. Many researchers proposes that child routines at home provide children with a sense of predictability, stability, and feelings of security, which fosters their social and other domains of development [1, 5, 8]. Sytsma et al. (2001) [17] proposed a behavioral theory contending that child routines at home are serving as a setting behavior for children’s compliance by providing them with consistent and predictable environmental cues to perform expected behaviors throughout the day. Consistent with this theory, it has been found that regular child routines at home contribute to a wide range of socialand academic competence of preschool children.

For instance, consistent child routines at home were correlatedwith behavioral difficulties among preschool-aged children [3]. Attention has also been paid to the effect of child routines at home in the development of preschool children, as development in the early years often has long-lasting implications for children’s latersocial and other developmental aspects [4]. Ferretti and Bub (2014) [5] found that family routines involving the child were positively associated with children’s self-regulation, and early routines also contributed to their cognitive abilities. Bater and Jordan (2017) [1] reported that preschoolers with more consistent routines at home demonstrated a better social competence and fewer externalizing challenges.

Despite the extensive studies conducted elsewhere in relation to child routines at home for preschool children’s (Garces, Thomas, & Currie, 2002; Gormley, Gayer, Phillips, & Dawson, 2005; Howes et al., 2008), Powell et al., 2010), there is no study conducted in Ethiopia on this issue.In Ethiopia there nosources of investigate in preschool children’s routines, most existing measures have only focused challenges, practices, and qualities of early education in the preschools, and those intended to investigate child routines at home specific to preschool children’s are limited in Ethiopia. The term social competence refers to effectiveness of successfully and appropriately differentiates and carries out their interpersonal goals [11] and socially competent children have been defined as those who participate in satisfying interactions and activities with parents, caregivers, and peers [12]. And also, social competence is a major aspect of child development related to peers acceptance, communication skill, play skill, pro-social behavior, emotional regulation and other skills as established in preschool years for readiness purpose in interpersonal relationships and social adjustment. Children who are socially competent, cooperative, and friendly are likely to do well in social and academic areas and demonstrate a higher psychological resilience. Similarly, studies indicate that, preschool children social competence is an indicator of effectiveness and appropriateness in child interaction and relationships with parents, caregivers, and age mates [2]. Daily relationships of the child with family such as, talking, playing game, have the characteristics of routines at home relating to social world in terms of the preschool children’s (Laible, Carlo, Torquati and Ontai, 2004. Cited in Grusec and Davidov, 2010). According to Parpal and Maccoby (1985), parent-child relationship occurs not when the child is anxious but when parent and child interact with each other as equal status partners (Grusec and Davidov, 2010). Giving opportunities to children to control the nature of interaction increases positive mood and behaviors (Lay and at al., 1989; Parpal and Maccoby, 1985, Cited in Grusec and Davidov, 2010). It was found that children having negative relationship with parents more often displayed angry, aggressive, hostile, disruptive behaviors in peer groups (Chen and et al., 2005,Cited in Gülay, 2008).

Thus, the researcher believes that children with more consistent child routines at home would have high level of social competence for preschool children’s. In addition, based on existing evidence of the relationship between child routines at home and preschool children’s social competence in Western cultures [1, 5], we predicted that more consistency in child routines at home would be correlated to high level of social competence for preschool children’s. Establishing the role of child routines at home in the development of preschool children could inform strategies for improving parent-child interactions and child social competence. The current study was adopted Child Routines Questionnaire (CRQ), which was originally developed by Sytsma et al. (2001) [17] for school-aged children and later adapted by Wittig (2005) [18] for use among preschool-aged children (CRQ-P). The CRQP captures multiple aspects of child routines, such as daily living, hygiene, social/educational activities, positive attention, and discipline [1, 18]. The present study also adopted Social Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SCTRS), this scales was develop and validated by Girma Lemma., (Girma, 2014) [10]. The current study used this scale to measure preschool children social competence rated by preschool teachers. Reliability statistics for the overall instrument and their subscales were checked. Thus, the mainobjective of the current study was to examine the relationship between child routines at home and social competence of preschool-aged children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The next objectives of this study are to examine gender difference of child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s.

In general, it is believed that children’s competencies in the social domain and child routines at home seem to be inadequately investigated area. However, studies focus on child routines at home would contribute in filling this gap. In preschools all children’s are experiences the same child routines, but children’s are expertise’s different child routines at home. That is why the current study was home based where a child routines questionnaires was conducted in schools, this information was gathered from parents during school drop-off/pick-up or by going to the house of the child that was reported for the child routines questionnaires. The home environment, parental and teacher’s background, children living arrangement, socioeconomic status and related home characteristics are important determinants of children social competence. In order to account for these variables, data was collected at home characteristics of the child routines. The current study aims to investigate the relationship between child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s in Addis Ababa.

Method

Research Design

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study used correlational research design to examine how child routines at home are correlated with social competence of preschool children’s.

Participants

This study included 70 preschool children’s (age range 5 to 7 years) recruited through twogovernment preschools (Kibebe Tsehay and Menelik 2nd preschool) in Addis Ababa. In Ethiopia, preschool programs are 3 years long and serve children aged from 4 to 6 years old. In this study, children were in their third year or upper Kindergarten. Participating parents 40(60%) were mothers and 28 (40%) were fathers. The parents reported children’s routines at home, and preschool teachers rated the children’s social competence.

Data Collection Instruments

Child Routines

We used the child routine questionnaire for preschooler (CRQ-P) [18] to assess child routines. Parents reported the frequency of daily routines on a three point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 3 (often) (see Table 1). The CRQ-P includes five subscales: Discipline (five items), Daily Living (five items), Positive Attention (five items), Education/Social (five items), and Hygiene (five items). Adopted and conceptualize items related to child routines at home to accommodate its use in Ethiopian context. One researcher worked on the translating the child routine questionnaire for preschool (CRQ-P) in Amharic. She has overseas educational backgrounds and work assistant lecture in Addis Ababa University in the field of psychology. For these translated the CRQ-P, my thesis advisor provided feedback on the translation. Any inconsistencies were discussed until a consensus was reached with my thesis advisor, to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of the translation of questionnaire for Ethiopian context. Reliability of the scale was determined by calculating coefficient alpha for the 25 items and each of the five-factors to measure internal consistency of the final item-pool. Cronbach’s Alpha was .91 for the CRQ: P Total Frequency scale. The coefficient alpha of the five factors ranged from .85 to .72 [18].

---

---

Social Competence

The scales for Social Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SCTRS) was develop andvalidated by Girma Lemma., [10]. After getting permissionfrom the author, this study used the scale to measure preschool children social competence rated by preschools teachers. Reliability statistics for the overall instrument and their subscales were checked by the previous researcher and also checked by current study. The Cronbach alpha reliability for the 35 items is 0.87. At the subscale level, Cronbach alpha for pro-social behavior (12 items) was 0.84, for play skill (9 items) was 0.72, for emotional control (8 items) was 0.70, and for communication skill (6 items) was 0.81.

Procedures

The selected preschool principals have received a cooperation letter written by Addis Ababa University College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Center for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), and then signed a permission note outlining of the study objective.

Data Analysis

In this study, quantitative and qualitative data analysis procedures were used. The quantitative data analysis used SPSS version 26. After careful data encoding and cleaning work, statistical analyses such as descriptive statistics,correlation, independent sample t-tests, ANOVA, and regression analysis were employed.

Ethical consideration

The researcher followed American Psychologist Association (APA) (2007) research ethical code. APA states that protect respondents’ privacy are first codes of ethics in human researches.

The researcher was being informed for respondents about the objectives of the study, purpose of the study, type of data collected, and the producers of data collection processes also explain to preschool principals, concerned professional, main and assistant teachers and parents in order to clarify expectations and reduce misconceptions.

---

---

Results

The Relationship between Child Routines at home and Social Competence of preschool children’s

As the main objectives of the study, Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to examine the relationship between child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s. As indicated Table-3, all of the five domains in child routines at home were positively correlated with their domains of social competence. Pearson correlation coefficient result shows that child routines in parent reported discipline routines were not statistically significant and weak correlation to teacher reported social competence domains; pro-social behavior (r= -.063, p= .605 > 0.05) ,play skills(r= .008, p= .897> 0.05), emotion regulation(r= .017, p= .674>0.05), and communication skills(r= .081, p= .505>0.05). Child routines in daily living were weak correlation and not statistically significant correlation to teacher-reported children social competences; pro-social behaviors (r= .004, p= .976), play skills(r = .26, p=.036), emotion regulation(r=.12, p = .22), and communication skills (r= .270, p= 0.024). Child routines in positive attention were weak correlation and were not statistically significant relationship to teacher reported social domains of children social competence; pro-social behaviors(r= .12, p= .318), play skills(r= .27, p = .16), emotion regulations(r= .11, p= .366), communication skills (r=.27, p=.011). Child routines in education and social weak correlation and were not statistically correlation to children social competence domains; pro-social behavior(r = .05, p =.665), play skills(r= .15, p= .523), emotion regulation(r= .21, p= .084), and communication skills(r = .28, p= .022). Child routines in daily hygiene activities were weak correlation and were not statistically significant correlation to teachers reported children social competence domains; pro-social behavior(r= .07, p=.66), play skills(r= .16, p=.27), emotion regulation(r= .25, p= .08), and communication skills(r =.22, p= .012).

Gender Difference on Social Competence

An independent sample t-test was computed to assess if there was gender difference in social competence between boy and girl preschool children. The result indicates that there was no statistically significant difference between male and female for preschool children in their social competence with males (pro-social behavior, M=3.00, SD = .52) and females pro-social behavior (M = 2.98, SD = .53); the degree of the mean difference =.02642, Sig = .835 and df= 68, play skills with male (M =2.45, SD = .48) and females (M= 2.45, SD= .48); mean difference = 00272, sig= .981 and df= 68, emotion regulation with male(M =2.14, SD= .51 and female (M= 2.06, SD= .45); the degree of the mean difference = .083, Sig= .48, and df = 68, and the last sub-scale, communication skills with male (M= 2.57, SD = .53) and with female(M=2.5392, SD= .61963); the degree of the mean difference = .039, at Sig= .776, and df= 68). These results indicated that between boy and girl is not significant difference in social competence for preschool children (see Table-5 below).

---

---

---

---

---

---

Gender Difference of child routines at home in preschool children’s

An independent sample t-test was computed to assess if there was gender difference in child routines at home between male and female preschool children. The result indicates that there was no statistically significant but there is difference between male and female for preschool children in their child routines at home with males (discipline routines, M=1.42, SD = .40) and females discipline routines (M = 1.36, SD = .46); the degree of the mean difference =.058, Sig = .581 and df= 68, daily living routines with male (M =1.42, SD = .50) and females (M= 1.38, SD= .48); mean difference = .04, sig= .73 and df= 68, positive attention with male(M =1.03, SD= .47 and female (M= 1.09, SD= .44); the degree of the mean difference = .-055, Sig= .62, and df = 68, social and education related routines with male (M= 1.39, SD = .49) and with female(M=1.28, SD= .48); the degree of the mean difference = .11, at Sig= .33, and df= 68), and hygiene related routines with male( M = 1.51, SD = .58, with female M= 1.41, SD = .58 ) the degree of mean difference = .100, this result indicates that there is no mean difference rather child routines at home specifically hygiene related routines are equal unlike other routines. These results indicated that between male and female is not significant butthere difference in child routines at home for preschool children’s except hygiene related routines, hygiene related routines are equal for all children’s (see Table-6 below). Parent’s Educational Level and Children Social Competence One way (ANOVA) was employed to investigate social competence difference as a function of participants’ parental educational level. The findings indicated as there was no statistically significant difference among participants based on their educational level with (F= .41, p = .93) for children’s social competence.

---

---

Social Competence and Children Living Arrangement

One way (ANOVA) was employed to investigate social competence difference as a function of participants’ living arrangements. The findings indicated as there was no statistically significant difference among participants based on their living arrangement with (F= .99, p = .41) for children’s social competence. In sum, the findings about practices of parent’s child routines at home were examined; there wasn’t any statistically significant difference between mean scores that parental educational level and children living arrangement on child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s.

---

---

---

---

Discussion

Along with the undeveloped economic and social changes in Ethiopia, most of Ethiopian Parents are given minimum valuing their child’s development for preschool age and strive to find ways to enhance it. Providing children with structure and routines canbe an effective strategy to promote social competence and child well being. However, there is noempirical evidence has been reported regarding the role of child routines at home and its relationship with social competence of preschool children. The current study provides initial evidence of the role that child routines at home may play in strengthening social competence of preschool children’s.

The current study produced two major findings. First, as expected, children with a more routinized life experienced at home higher levels of social competence. Possibly, when children have a clear idea about what they are expected to perform at a certain time during the day (i.e., routines indiscipline, daily living, education/ social, positive attention, and hygiene related activities), they are more inclined to cooperate and comply. This may naturally lead to fewer increased intimacy in parent-child relationships and improve social competence of preschool children’s.

Furthermore, when children have formed consistent expectations that howthey are treated depends on their specific behaviors (i.e., discipline routines) rather than random factors such as parents’ mood, they would be more confident that parents’ intention is to discipline their behaviors instead of punishing them for reasons over which they have no control. This perception of stability and security may improve the quality of children’s social competence. Second, child routines in the home context were also related to children’s social competence, which is consistent with previous findings regarding preschool children in Western societies [1, 5]. Activities involved in child routines at home require children’s transition from one activity to another at a specified time and need them to comply with the rules set by parents. Therefore, child routines can provide chance for children to practice their social relationship skills. This study also showed that the associations between child routines and social competence of preschool children were relatively weak. It is worth noting that in this study, child routinesin home context were reported by parents, and whereas child social competence of preschool children was reported by teachers.

Overall, the present study supported the relationships between child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s. Although previous evidence has shown the positive role of child routines in child development, earlier studies did not consider the confounding effect of child routines at home and social competence of preschool children. The present study demonstrated that child routines did make a unique contribution to child development beyond social competence. This indicates that child routines in themselves play a positive role in social competence of preschool children, regardless of the child routines at home adopted by parents. Furthermore, it is important to highlight that it is of great value to demonstrate the positive associations between child routines at home andsocial development in Ethiopian preschool context. In Ethiopia, setting childroutines is often more emphasized in preschool settings than in theat home context. It appears that the importance of setting child routinesat home has not been fully recognized by Ethiopian parents.

In addition, setting child routines for preschool children can be challenging in Ethiopia, because in Ethiopia, grandparents and significant others are often involved in their care and development roles. Parents and grandparents often have different child-rearing values, stress different socialization goals, and employ different parenting strategies, which canhinder the setting of consistent child routines for children. The findings ofthis study provide insight for Ethiopian parents with preschool children, highlighting that setting child routines at home could be an applicable programto enhance their social relationships and competence with their children while promoting the children’s social competence. Thus, it is recommended that parents overcome the potential challenges of daily hassles and provide structure and consistency in their children’s daily lives.

Despite the contributions and implications described above, thisstudy has limitations in two aspects. First, the present study is correlational. Causal conclusion cannot be drawn regarding the relationsbetween child routines at home and social competence of preschool children’s. Longitudinal studies are needed to examinewhether consistency in child routines at home can influence social competence of preschool children’s. Finally, the whole parentsincluded in the current sample had relatively low socio-economic and education status. Thus, future research should examine the relations between childroutines at home and social competence of preschool children using experimental and longitudinal designs, and test whether the findings are consistent among familiesfrom higher socioeconomic and educational backgrounds in Ethiopia.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Addis Ababa University for providing free scholarship for my MA study and the study participants for their cooperation.

Authors’ Contributions

YB contributed to study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation and drafting and revising the manuscript. MH participated to the study design, data interpretation, and review of the manuscript. Both authors participated in giving final approval of the version to be published.

Author’s information

YB is Early Childhood Care and Development Specialist at Information Network Security Administration (INSA). MH is also a Social Psychology Researcher at Information Network Security Agency (INSA).