Browsing by Author "Ahlholm, Mia"

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -intervention (MindUp™) in the day care centers children of 3 to 6 years of age on social competence as perceived by the staff and children's parents. In the study, social competence consisted of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, inattention, peer relationship problems, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. The research questions are: 1. What is the children's social competence before and after the intervention? 2. How do the children differ on the basis of sex with respect to social competence before and after the intervention? 3. What are the differences in children's social competence before and after the intervention based on mother's or father's education? Previous studies have shown that mindfulness-based interventions on children have a positive effect on, for example self-regulation, emotional regulation, socio-cognitive skills, academic skills and social skills. There has been little research on the effects of socio-emotional programs on the young children's social competence, although various social skills training programs in early childhood are much in use. The study was part of the Pieni Oppiva Mieli -project at the University of Helsinki and was attended by 234 children from three different kindergartens in the metropolitan area. The study was conducted investigating the effects of a 30-week intervention on the day care group during the academic year 2016-2017. Strenghts and Difficulties form (SDQ-Fin) was used to investigate the difference between initial and final measurement, and it was combined with the information on the background information form, namely the gender of the child and the education of parents. The material was analyzed quantitatively by SPSS Statistics 24 -program using non-parametric tests as analyzing method; a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, a Mann–Whitney U test, and a Kruskal–Wallis test. I also used a parametric t-test (Independent Samples) alongside the Mann–Whitney U test. The results indicate that the intervention might have positive effects on child's inattention, peer problems, prosocial behaviour and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on the answers provided by the staff, the results also indicate that the sex may have an impact on the initial and final measurement of conduct problems, inattention, prosocial behavior and psychosocial wellbeing. Based on parent's responses, the results are parallel, but narrower. Results of the boys were worse than the girls in all the sub-variables of social competence except for the peer problems. The research results of staff and parents of children differed from the impact of maternal and father's education on the child's social competence and development.