ABSTRACT

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF PARENTS ENGAGING IN DIALOGIC READING WITH THEIR CHILDREN WHILE READING PICTURE BOOKS ON CHILDREN'S EMOTIONAL UNDERSTANDING AND PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS. THE STUDY ALSO ATTEMPTED TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL OF PICTURE BOOKS AS USEFUL INSTRUMENTS FOR PARENT-CHILD COMMUNICATION, FOSTERING MEANINGFUL PARENT-CHILD CONNECTION AND AUGMENTING CHILDREN'S EMOTIONAL COMPREHENSION. THE STUDY LASTED FOR 11 WEEKS. THE INITIAL THREE WEEKS WERE FOCUSED ON A PARENT-CHILD READING SESSION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR MOTHERS, AND THE NEXT EIGHT WEEKS CONSISTED OF A PICTURE BOOK READING PROGRAM IN THE PARTICIPANTS' HOMES. CONVENIENCE SAMPLING WAS EMPLOYED TO CHOOSE 11 FAMILIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE STUDY. THROUGHOUT THE 8-WEEK READING PROGRAM, FAMILIES ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN PARENT-CHILD PICTURE BOOK READING SESSIONS AT HOME, ENSURING A MINIMUM FREQUENCY OF ONCE PER WEEK. THE STUDY USED A COMBINATION OF MULTIPLE CASE STUDIES AND A CASE STUDY-MIXED METHODS DESIGN. THE DATA COLLECTION PROCESS INVOLVED GATHERING QUANTITATIVE DATA THROUGH VARIOUS MEANS, INCLUDING ADMINISTERING PRIMARY BACKGROUND SURVEYS, UTILIZING THE CHILD-PARENT RELATIONSHIP SCALE (CPRS), AND EMPLOYING THE CHILDREN’S EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCALE. THE QUALITATIVE DATA CONSISTED OF INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BEFORE THE INTERVENTION AND RECORDS DOCUMENTING PARENTAL READING OBSERVATIONS. THE ANALYSIS METHODOLOGIES USED IN THIS STUDY ENCOMPASSED THEMATIC AND CONTENT ANALYSIS, WHICH INVOLVED COMBINING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS TO FACILITATE COMPARISON. THE QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS OF THE CHILD EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT SCALE REVEALED NOTABLE DISPARITIES IN EMOTIONAL COGNITION, COMPREHENSION, EXPRESSION, AND OVERALL EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE SCORES BETWEEN THE INITIAL AND FINAL EXAMINATIONS. ALTHOUGH THE CPRS RESULTS DID NOT REVEAL ANY NOTABLE DISPARITIES IN FAMILY INTIMACY AND CONFLICT; IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT SEVEN FAMILIES HAD HIGHER POST-TEST SCORES IN FAMILY INTIMACY, INDICATING THAT MOTHERS PERCEIVED AN IMPROVED LEVEL OF CLOSENESS WITH THEIR CHILDREN. QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS REVEALED THAT THROUGH SHARED READING OF PICTURE BOOKS ON VARIOUS EMOTIONAL THEMES, CHILDREN LEARNED MORE EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY AND ENGAGED IN DEEPER PARENT-CHILD CONVERSATIONS BEYOND DAILY INTERACTIONS. THIS INCREASED CHILDREN'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION AND HELPED MOTHERS BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR CHILDREN'S EMOTIONAL NEEDS, REFLECT ON THEIR PARENTING SKILLS, AND FOSTER PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION. IN CONCLUSION, THIS STUDY DEMONSTRATED THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF ENGAGING IN DIALOGIC PARENT-CHILD PICTURE BOOK READING ON EMOTIONAL UNDERSTANDING IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN. FURTHERMORE, IT IS BELIEVED TO BE A VALUABLE PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION STRATEGY FOR DUAL-INCOME FAMILIES IN MACAU, ENHANCING PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS.