A Longitudinal Study on the Influence of Parental Interaction on Preschool Children’s Cognitive Development: A Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

To investigate the impact of parental interaction on cognitive development in preschool children, a study was conducted involving 198 preschool children selected between June 2021 and January 2022. These children were divided into a control group and an observation group based on their participation in parent-child interaction education. The propensity score matching method was employed to ensure baseline equivalence between the 2 groups. Post-matching, comparisons were made regarding language ability, social communication skills, social life skills, intelligence, and neurodevelopment. No significant differences were observed between the groups at baseline. Following the intervention, the observation group demonstrated significantly higher scores in language ability (P < .05), communication and life skills (P < .05), as well as intelligence and neurodevelopment, compared with the control group (P < .05). These findings suggest that parental interaction interventions can effectively enhance language abilities, social skills, social life skills, intelligence, and neurodevelopment in preschool children, and thus, are recommended for adoption.