The Effect of Self-Efficacy Developing Program on Promoting Early Childhood Development

Abstract

This study was a quasi-experimental research, a repeated measure one group pretest-posttest design. The purpose was to study the effect of self-efficacy developing program on early childhood development and mothers’ self-efficacy on promoting a child’s development. Thirty mothers and their children aged 1 ฝ years old were recruited purposively according to a criterion that the children were suspected to have delayed development screened, by the Developmental Surveillance and Promotion Manual (DSPM). After four and eight weeks of participating in the program based on Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, the mothers’ self-efficacy was measured by the mothers’ efficacy on childhood development questionnaire validated by 5 experts (IOC = 0.94). The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient was 0.98. Data were analyzed by using percentage, mean, standard deviation and a repeated measure ANOVA. The research found that mothers’ self-efficacy mean score and the child development test mean score after 4 and 8 weeks participating in the program were statistically significantly higher than those before the program (p < .01). It was shown that nursing activities proposed in the program can be applied in nursing practice to enhance mothers’ abilities to promote an early childhood development.