Exploring the Factors Affecting Parenting During the First Seven Years of Life Based on the Optimization of Parent–Child Interactions
Keywords:
Parenting, Parent, Child Interaction, Secure Attachment, DEMATEL, Structural, Interpretive Modeling, First Seven Years of LifeAbstract
Introduction and Aim: This study aimed to identify the factors affecting parenting during the first seven years of life and explain the structural relationships among these factors based on the optimization of parent–child interactions.
Methodology: This applied study employed an exploratory mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, a meta-synthesis was conducted on scientific sources related to parenting, parent–child interaction, pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood retrieved from national and international databases. Sources were selected purposively according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Coding reliability was assessed using Cohen’s kappa coefficient. In the quantitative phase, 15 experts in developmental psychology, educational sciences, family counseling, child education, and parenting were recruited through purposive and judgmental sampling. Data were collected using pairwise-comparison questionnaires and analyzed through the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and Interpretive Structural Modeling methods.
Findings: A Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.801 confirmed satisfactory coding reliability. The meta-synthesis identified four developmental dimensions—pregnancy, infancy, first childhood, and second childhood—and several components, including biological–physical, emotional–affective, sociocultural, and cognitive factors, nutrition, secure attachment, trust and security, emotion regulation, environmental enrichment, value transmission, optimal interactions, and parental empowerment. The Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory analysis indicated that parental empowerment was the most influential causal component, followed by empowerment during pregnancy, the sociocultural context, and empowerment during infancy. Emotion regulation, value transmission, developmental maturation, environmental enrichment, and optimal interactions were primarily affected components. Secure attachment occupied a relatively balanced position, functioning both as an outcome of responsive parenting and as a mechanism influencing subsequent emotional and social development. Interpretive Structural Modeling revealed a hierarchical, developmental, and sequential structure beginning in pregnancy and extending through the second childhood period.
Conclusion: Parenting during the first seven years of life is a multidimensional and developmental process shaped by the interaction of individual, familial, and sociocultural factors. Its improvement requires continuous parental empowerment, promotion of secure attachment, provision of enriched developmental environments, and sustained educational and social support from pregnancy through the end of early childhood.
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Copyright (c) 1404 Fatemeh Panahi Shayegh, Ruhollah Karimi Khoygani, Masoumeh sadat Abtahi (Author)
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