Psychosocial Stimulation: A Qualitative Study on Kenyan Mother’s Motives and Challenges to Promote Children’s Development

• Published in: Journal of child and family studies Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 1840 - 1847
• Main Authors: Watts, Sarah E., Oburu, Paul, Lah, Suncica, Hunt, Caroline J., Rhodes, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Attrition (Research Studies); Behavioral Science and Psychology; Beliefs; Caregivers; Caregiving; Challenges; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Child Rearing; Dancing; Educational Psychology; Effect Size; Emotional development; Emotions; Family Environment; Focus Groups; Home Visits; International organizations; Intervention; Kenya; Low Income; Low income countries; Marital relations; Mortality Rate; Mothers; Original Paper; Parent-child relations; Parenting Styles; Parents; Parents & parenting; Poverty; Preschool Education; Psychology; Psychosocial factors; Qualitative analysis; Qualitative research; Resistance (Psychology); School Readiness; Singing; Social Sciences; Sociology; Stimulation; Kenya; Qualitative research; Parenting; Psychosocial stimulation; Child development; Kenya
• DOI: 10.1007/s10826-016-0371-3
• ISSN: 1062-1024

Interventions designed to enhance the mental and socio-emotional development of children in low and middle income countries through improving psychosocial stimulation are the subject of national and international organizations research and programs. Before new interventions can be designed and tested in low income countries, it is important to understand what psychosocial stimulation mothers are already providing, how beliefs influence the stimulation used, and what challenges are faced by mothers when trying to do this. We aimed to find out what types of stimulation are being commonly used by mothers in Kenya, alongside exploring the beliefs and associated challenges in providing psychosocial stimulation. This is a qualitative study using focus group discussions held in Kisumu, a regional urban centre in Western Kenya, with 35 mothers caring for at least one child under the age of 5 years. Mothers in this study identified four key themes of commonly employed stimulation: singing, play, dancing and story-telling. A range of challenges were raised such as ensuring their child’s basic physiological needs were met, managing marital conflict, and trusting non-familial caregivers, with mothers concerned that their child may be mistreated through accidental or purposeful harm. Findings indicate that mothers in a low income country are faced with multiple challenges when trying to provide psychosocial stimulation for their child’s development. It is important to consider these results when designing an intervention for this setting.