Reading aloud to preschool children: An exploratory study about some psychological variables involved

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE
Author/s Arianna De Donno, Valentina Fenaroli, Emanuela Saita
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/3
Language Italian Pages 20 P. 5-24 File size 238 KB
DOI 10.3280/PDS2017-003001
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Recent research demonstrates that reading aloud to your child, as early as the first year of life, promotes the child’s health, in terms of linguistic and cognitive development, as well as the parent/child relationship. However, factors involved in this practice have not been thoroughly investigated. The current research examines if reading aloud is connected to parental socio-cultural variables (age, education, occupation) and/or psychological variables (attachment styles, parental stress perception). 225 mothers and 140 fathers of children aged 3-6 years were administered a questionnaire on reading aloud attitudes, a questionnaire about socio-economic information, the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ), the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-SF) and a question on the representation of well-being of their child. Results reveal that mothers with attitudes towards reading have a higher education, a less dismissing attachment style and perceive their child as less distressing. Mothers are also more likely to represent the child’s well-being in relational terms. Fathers with attitude toward reading have a more secure attachment style. The data allows one to observe how the practice of reading aloud is influenced by psychological and relational elements, like the ability to "stay in the relationship" and the finding of enjoyable and rewarding activities with one’s children.

Keywords: Reading aloud, attachment style, parenting stress, well-being.

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Arianna De Donno, Valentina Fenaroli, Emanuela Saita, Leggere ad alta voce con figli in età prescolare: una ricerca esplorativa su alcune variabili psicologiche implicate in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 3/2017, pp 5-24, DOI: 10.3280/PDS2017-003001