Maternal knowledge is important to parenting behaviors, children’s development and well-being. Mothers’ knowledge of child development has been shown to have a significant influence on the way mothers interact with their children and the learning opportunities they provide. This study was carried out to determine the level of maternal knowledge of child development and whether the level of knowledge varies by content area for mothers living in Qatar. The study also examined the relationship between maternal demographic characteristics and general and specific knowledge levels. The sample of mothers (N = 263) completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI) together with the Catalog of Previous Experience with Infants (COPE). Findings indicated that mothers’ knowledge about typical child deployment, developmental norms and milestones is poor. Implications in terms of parent education and clinical practice are discussed.
Al-GhanimK. (2013). The hierarchy of authority based on kinship, age, and gender in the extended family in the Arab Gulf States. International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family, 3, 333–360.
2.
Al-MaadadiF. (1996). Perceptions of mothers of preschool children in Qatar regarding developmentally appropriate programs for their children (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). George Washington University, Washington, DC.
3.
BenasichA. A.Brooks-GunnJ. (1996). Maternal attitudes and knowledge of child-rearing: Associations with family and chills outcomes. Child Development, 67, 1186–1205.
4.
BelskyJ.YoungbladeL.PelskyE. (1989). Child-rearing history, marital quality, and maternal affect. Intergenerational transmission in a low risk sample. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 291–304.
5.
BlackM. M.EiserC.KrishnakumarA. (2000). International research and practice in pediatric psychology: Challenges and new directions. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 25, 363–366.
6.
BornsteinM. H. (Ed.). (2002). Handbook of parenting (2nd ed., Vols. 1–5). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
7.
BornsteinM.CoteL.HaynesM.HahnC.ParkY. (2010). Parenting knowledge: Experiential and sociodemographic factors in European American mothers of young children. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1677–1693. doi:10, 1037/a0020677
8.
BornsteinM. H.CoteL. R. (2003). Cultural and parenting cognitions in acculturating cultures: II Patterns of prediction and structural coherence. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 34, 350–373.
9.
BornsteinM. H.CoteL. R. (2004). “Who is sitting across from me”: Immigrant mothers’ knowledge of parenting and children's development. Pediatrics, 114, 557–564.
10.
BrislinR. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In TriandisH. C.BerryJ. W. (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 389–444). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
11.
Brooks-GunnJ.FurstenberF. F. (1986). The children of adolescent mothers: Physical, academic, and psychological outcomes. Developmental Review, 6, 781–790.
12.
ChanceT.ScannapiecoM. (2002). Ecological correlates of child maltreatment: Similarities and differences between child fatality and nonfatality cases. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 19, 139–161.
13.
ConradB.GrossD.FoggL.RuchalaP. (1992). Maternal confidence, knowledge and quality of mother-toddler interactions: A preliminary study. Infant Mental health Journal, 13, 353–362.
14.
DeutschF.RubleD.FlemingA.Brooks-GunnJ.StangorC. (1988). Information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 55, 420–431.
15.
DichtelmillerM.MeiselsS. J.PlunkettJ. W.BozynskiM. E.ClaflinC.MangelsdorfS. F. (1992). The relationship of parental knowledge to the development of extremely low birth weight infants. Journal of Early Intervention, 16, 210–220.
16.
DonnalleyG. E. (2013). Maternal knowledge and the relationship between home environment and child development (Doctoral dissertation). Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
17.
DukewichT. L.BorkowskiJ. G.WhitmanT. L. (1996). Adolescent mothers and child abuse potential: An evaluation of risk factors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 20, 1031–1047.
18.
ErtemI. O.AtayG.DoganD. G.BayhanA.BingolerB. E.GokC. G.IsikliS. (2007). mothers’ knowledge of young child development in a developing country. Child Care: Health and Development, 33, 728–737.
19.
GlascoeF. P.DworkinP. H. (1995). The role of parents in the detection of developmental and behavioral problems. Pediatrics, 95, 829–836.
20.
GolanS.SpikerD.PetersonD.MercierB.SnowM.WilliamsonC. (2008). Washington department of early learning parent needs assessment: Phone Survey (SRI Project 18252). SRI International; Menlo Park, CA: Jun. 2008 Parent Voices: A statewide Look.
21.
GoodnowJ. J. (1988). Parents’ ideas, actions and feelings: Models and methods from developmental and social psychology. Child Development, 59, 286–320.
22.
GoodnowJ. J.CollinsW. A. (1990). Development according to parents: The nature, sources, and consequences of parents’ ideas. London, England: Erlbaum.
23.
GorsuchR. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd ed.) Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
24.
HocevarD.El-ZahharN. (1985). Test anxiety in the USA and Egypt: A paradigm for investigating psychometric characteristics across cultures. Advances in Test Anxiety Research, 4, 203–213.
25.
HuangK. Y.O’Brien CaughyM. O. B.GenevroJ. L.MillerT. L. (2005). Maternal knowledge of child development and quality parenting among white, African-American and Hispanic mothers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 210–220.
26.
KhalifaB. (2006). Attitudes toward domestic helpers, its impact on parenting practices, and on the psychological adjustment of children in Qatar: An analytic study. Doha, Qatar: Supreme Council for Family Affairs.
27.
LeVineR. A.MillerP. M.RichmanA. L.LeVineS. (1996). Education and mother–infant interaction: A Mexican case study. In HarknessS.SuperC. M (Eds.), Parents’ cultural belief systems: Their origins, expressions, and consequences (pp. 254–269). New York, NY: Guilford.
28.
MacPheeD. (1981). Manual for the knowledge of infant development inventory(Unpublished manuscript). University of North Carolina, Wilmington, NC.
29.
MacPheeD. (1983). mothers’ acquisition and reconstruction of knowledge about infancy (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
30.
McKimM. K. (1987). Transition to what? New parents’ problems in the first year. Family Relations, 36, 22–25.
Qatar National Development Strategy 2011˜2016: Towards Qatar National Vision 2030. Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning (2011).
33.
Qatar National Vision 2030. General Secretariat for Development Planning (2008).
34.
ReichS. (2005). What do mothers know? Maternal knowledge of child development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 143–156.
35.
ReichS.BickmanL.WorleyK. (2004, June). Preventing child injury and promoting better child outcomes through the use of children’s books. Poster session presented at the Society of Prevention Research annual Conference, Quebec City, Canada.
36.
RibasR. deC.BornsteinM. H. (2005). Parenting knowledge: Similarities and differences in Brazilian mothers and fathers. Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 39, 5–12.
37.
RichmanA.MillerP.LeVineR. (1992). Cultural and educational variations in maternal responsiveness. Developmental Psychology, 28, 614–621.
38.
RichterL. M. (2003). Poverty, underdevelopment and infant mental health. Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health, 39, 243–248.
39.
RikardK. M.GrazianoW.ForehandR. (1984). Parental expectations and child deviance in Clinic-referred and non-clinic children. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 13, 179–186.
40.
RikhyS.ToughS.TruteB.BenziesK.KehlerH.JohnstonD. W. (2010). Gauging knowledge of developmental milestones among Albertan adults: A cross sectional survey. Public Health, 10, 183. Retrieved fromwww.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/183
41.
RoosaM. W. (1983). A comparative study of pregnant teenagers’ parenting attitudes and knowledge of sexuality and child development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12, 213–222.
42.
SandersL. M.ThomsonV. T.WilkinsonJ. D. (2007). Caregiver health literacy and the use of child health services. Pediatrics, 119, 86–92.
43.
SchilmoellerG. L.BaranowskiM. D. (1985). Childrearing of first borns by adolescent and older mothers. Adolescence, 2, 805–822.
44.
SigelI. E. (1992). The belief behavior connection: A resolvable dilemma? In SigelI. E.Mcgillicudy-DeLiciA. V.GoodmanJ. J. (Eds.), Parental belief systems: The psychological Consequences for children (2nd ed., pp. 433–456). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
45.
SistlerA. K.GottfriedN. W. (1990). Shared child development knowledge between grandmother and mother. Family Relations, 39, 92–96.
46.
SmithT. K. (2002). The relationship between knowledge, attributions and behavior in adolescent mothers: Implications for child outcomes. Dissertation Abstract International. B, The Sciences and Engineering, 62, 5412.
47.
StevensJ. H. (2012). Child development knowledge and parenting skills. Family Relations, 33, 237–244.
48.
Tamis-LemondaC.ChenL.BornsteinM. (1998). Mothers’ knowledge about children’s play and language development: Short-term stability and interrelations. Developmental Psychology, 34, 115–124.
49.
Tamis-LemondaC.ShannonJ.SpellmanM. (2002). Low-income adolescent mothers’ knowledge about domains of child development. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23, 88–103.
50.
VukelichC.KlimanD. D. (1985). Mature and teenage mothers’ infant growth expectations and use of child development information sources. Family Relations, 34, 189–196.
51.
WinterL.MorawskaA.Sanders. (2012). The knowledge of effective parenting scale (KEPS): A tool for public health approaches to universal parenting programs. Journal of Primary Prevent, 33, 85–97.
