الكاتب/ة الباحث/ة
Sirine Saleh
الناشر/المؤسسة
CUREUS
تاريخ الإصدار
2023
الدولة
دبي
Abstract
Background and objective
There is a dearth of studies on the knowledge and awareness among mothers on childhood development in
the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Maternal knowledge of childhood development is a critical determinant
of children's development and behavior. In light of this, we conducted this study to determine the level of
maternal knowledge about childhood development.
Methodology
We employed a cross-sectional study design involving 200 mothers of all ages recruited using stratified
random sampling. After obtaining informed consent, the participants were required to complete a
questionnaire adapted from the "Ages and Stages" questionnaire, which covered demographics and items on
developmental milestones. The questionnaire was validated and checked for reliability by using a focus
group. Inferential statistics were used, and the association between the variables was analyzed using the
Chi-squared test.
Results
Our findings indicated that the knowledge among mothers regarding child development is relatively low in
the UAE. Two-thirds of the respondents were knowledgeable about gross motor skills (62% of the mothers
knew the age at which a child could lift his/her head). Less than half of the mothers were well-informed
about fine motor skills such as writing and drawing (44% of the mothers were aware of the age at which a
child should be able to scribble on paper). The respondents demonstrated a lack of knowledge regarding
children's speech and language skills. Regarding social skills, only 8% of the mothers were aware of the
correct age at which a child should start to dress by himself/herself.
Conclusion
Although mothers in the UAE were knowledgeable about certain aspects of childhood development such as
gross motor development, they were less knowledgeable regarding other aspects such as social and language
skills. The gaps identified in our study highlight the need to implement effective health education programs
so that mothers are better informed to help improve child development outcomes in the community.