“…Our study showed that play opportunities for female children were limited to the home, restricting their chance to explore the environment outdoors, constraining their playfulness and curiosity. Consistent with our ndings, a study from South Africa found that young girls assisted their mothers in the daily household chores and their play was limited to stereotypical female activities [38]. The restriction of play opportunities for female children was mainly to protect them and maintain gender norms.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 87%
“…Moreover, caregivers concentrated on the physical aspects of care and often saw play as a means to keep the child happy and occupied, allowing their mothers to complete household chores. Similar views were found in studies from lowland Nepal [29], India [37] and South Africa [38]. This perception can lead to misinterpreting play as meaningless and not recognising the role of play in children's development, which may create a barrier to children's development.…”
Background
Caregiving is critical to children’s survival, growth, and development. In Nepal, national surveys highlight suboptimal caregiving practices for children aged under three years. Our study aimed to understand cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving practices for children under three in Dhanusha District, Nepal, to inform community interventions to promote Early Childhood Development (ECD).
Methods
We used qualitative methods to explore caregivers’ perceptions and practices related to cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving for children aged under three years. We purposively selected seven village development committees and conducted seven Semi-Structured Interviews (SSIs) with mothers (n=4) and grandmothers (n=3) of children under three years as well as four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with mothers (n=29) in Dhanusha District, Nepal. The SSIs and FGDs were audio-recorded, transcribed in Nepali, translated into English, and analysed using the framework approach.
Results
Caregivers thought that young children learned new skills by observing and imitating parents and older siblings, but also that ‘real learning’ mostly occurred in school after three years of age. Socialisation processes differed by gender, as reflected in the cultural acceptance of gender-specific play activities: for example, boys were encouraged to play outside and girls to play ‘kitchen’. Mothers and grandmothers engaged in stimulating activities with their children, but these activities were not perceived as ‘learning’ opportunities and were often limited by caregivers’ heavy workloads. Caregivers described good behaviours as children following parents’ instructions. Disciplining was frequent and included verbal and physical punishments. Mothers and grandmothers had primary responsibility for childcare, and the burden of responsibility was higher in households where husbands worked abroad. Mothers aspired for their sons to attain jobs, and for their daughters to have long and happy marriages.
Conclusion
We found several positive caregiving practices in communities of lowland Nepal, which provide an opportunity to develop a culturally appropriate intervention to support ECD. Our findings suggest that interventions to encourage caregivers’ engagement with their children should build on existing positive caregiving practices without burdening caregivers’ daily lives. Involving fathers and grandmothers in ECD interventions in addition to mothers may be beneficial in promoting children’s development.
“…Our study showed that play opportunities for female children were limited to the home, restricting their chance to explore the environment outdoors, constraining their playfulness and curiosity. Consistent with our ndings, a study from South Africa found that young girls assisted their mothers in the daily household chores and their play was limited to stereotypical female activities [38]. The restriction of play opportunities for female children was mainly to protect them and maintain gender norms.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 87%
“…Moreover, caregivers concentrated on the physical aspects of care and often saw play as a means to keep the child happy and occupied, allowing their mothers to complete household chores. Similar views were found in studies from lowland Nepal [29], India [37] and South Africa [38]. This perception can lead to misinterpreting play as meaningless and not recognising the role of play in children's development, which may create a barrier to children's development.…”
Background
Caregiving is critical to children’s survival, growth, and development. In Nepal, national surveys highlight suboptimal caregiving practices for children aged under three years. Our study aimed to understand cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving practices for children under three in Dhanusha District, Nepal, to inform community interventions to promote Early Childhood Development (ECD).
Methods
We used qualitative methods to explore caregivers’ perceptions and practices related to cognitive and socio-emotional caregiving for children aged under three years. We purposively selected seven village development committees and conducted seven Semi-Structured Interviews (SSIs) with mothers (n=4) and grandmothers (n=3) of children under three years as well as four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with mothers (n=29) in Dhanusha District, Nepal. The SSIs and FGDs were audio-recorded, transcribed in Nepali, translated into English, and analysed using the framework approach.
Results
Caregivers thought that young children learned new skills by observing and imitating parents and older siblings, but also that ‘real learning’ mostly occurred in school after three years of age. Socialisation processes differed by gender, as reflected in the cultural acceptance of gender-specific play activities: for example, boys were encouraged to play outside and girls to play ‘kitchen’. Mothers and grandmothers engaged in stimulating activities with their children, but these activities were not perceived as ‘learning’ opportunities and were often limited by caregivers’ heavy workloads. Caregivers described good behaviours as children following parents’ instructions. Disciplining was frequent and included verbal and physical punishments. Mothers and grandmothers had primary responsibility for childcare, and the burden of responsibility was higher in households where husbands worked abroad. Mothers aspired for their sons to attain jobs, and for their daughters to have long and happy marriages.
Conclusion
We found several positive caregiving practices in communities of lowland Nepal, which provide an opportunity to develop a culturally appropriate intervention to support ECD. Our findings suggest that interventions to encourage caregivers’ engagement with their children should build on existing positive caregiving practices without burdening caregivers’ daily lives. Involving fathers and grandmothers in ECD interventions in addition to mothers may be beneficial in promoting children’s development.
“…These engaging interactions with grandparents and their social circles enriched grandchildren's social experience and initiate greater interaction opportunities that the children would otherwise precluded. This may lead to positive influence on the children's engagement in outdoor activities and enhance social skills that prevalence for developing social confidence and future relationships (Ayob et al., 2022). Although grandparents sometimes described caretaking of grandchildren as tiring, stressful, and worrisome, our interview accounts show that grandparents' narratives tended to reveal engagement in daily tasks as mutually supportive, as demonstrated in this quote:Yes, sometimes I meet my friends and something very happy happens, I will tell (them) when I am home … (I) share with them everything… Sometimes, when there is no school, Saturday and Sunday, she will help me mop the floor.…”
This study aimed to generate localized knowledge by investigating the perceptions and experiences of preadolescent grandchildren and grandparents regarding grandparenting and intergenerational interactions and how these processes were related to the social skills of preadolescents from three ethnic groups in Malaysia. Using a concurrent quantitative–qualitative mixed method research design, Chinese, Malay, and Indian preadolescents (N = 465; ages 9–12 years old; M = 10.27 years; SD = 1.03) from rural areas in Malaysia completed a self‐administered quantitative survey; furthermore, 25 grandparents participated in one‐on‐one interviews. Survey findings showed that preadolescent grandchildren who reported higher grandparental warmth and support had greater social skills, mediated by positive grandparent–grandchildren (GP–GC) relationships. The GP–GC relationship and preadolescent social skills association was stronger for skipped generation compared to three‐generation households. Interview findings revealed that grandparents expressed unconditional love and autonomy support in their grandparenting roles by guiding and encouraging their preadolescent grandchildren to make decisions. The GP–GC interactions served as a dynamic force in promoting preadolescents' social skills. By employing a decolonized approach and drawing on the lived experiences of grandparents from three ethnic backgrounds in rural Malaysia, the study provided an understanding of grandparenting practices and their general implications across the three ethnic groups. The interview responses highlighted both commonalities and specificities in grandparenting practices and relationship dynamics shaped by religious, class, and sociocultural dimensions in rural Malaysia.
“…This was not the case in prior qualitative samples. Caregivers in the Malawi study did not mention health providers as sources of knowledge and caregivers from peri-urban South Africa saw health providers as sources of knowledge about children’s healthcare, but not about stimulation activities [ 15 , 16 ]. This was also the case for caregivers from other areas of Mozambique, who did not receive any information about stimulation activities from health providers [ 13 , 14 ].…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…These qualitative approaches capture the lived experiences of caregivers of young children and can help elucidate how caregivers ascribe meaning to their experiences. However, these – and the handful of other qualitative reports from diverse settings across sub-Saharan Africa [ 15 – 17 ] – focused solely on mothers, thus limiting our understanding of how fathers perceive theirs and their partner’s caregiving roles. Further qualitative research is needed to examine the perspectives of fathers and the caregiving roles of other family members and to understand the sources of guidance and support mothers and fathers receive as caregivers of young children.…”
Background
Providing nurturing care for young children is essential for promoting early child development (ECD). However, there is limited knowledge about how mothers and fathers across diverse contexts in sub-Saharan Africa care for their children and from whom they receive guidance and support in their caregiving roles. We aimed to examine caregivers’ nurturing care practices and sources of parenting knowledge in rural Mozambique.
Methods
This is a secondary analysis using data from a qualitative evaluation of a pilot intervention to improve nurturing care for early child health and development within existing health systems. The evaluation was conducted across three primary care health facilities and their catchment areas in Nampula province, Mozambique. For this study, we analyzed data from in-depth interviews conducted with 36 caregivers (32 mothers and 4 fathers) to investigate mothers’ and fathers’ daily caregiving experiences. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results
Caregivers described various caregiving roles relating to general caregiving of young children (e.g., feeding, bathing, caring for child’s health) and stimulation (e.g., play and communication) activities. Mothers more commonly engaged in general caregiving activities than fathers, whereas both mothers and fathers engaged in stimulation activities. Other family members, including siblings, grandparents, and aunts/uncles, were also actively engaged in general caregiving activities. With respect to sources of parenting knowledge, caregivers received parenting guidance and support primarily from their own mothers/parents and facility-based health providers.
Conclusions
These findings highlight the importance of adopting a holistic approach involving caregivers and their context and reveal potential strategies to promote caregiving and ECD in rural Mozambique and similar contexts.
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