The Effectiveness of Counseling Program Based on Expressive Arts to Improve Emotional Intelligence and Positive Parenting for Mothers of Pre School-Children

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a counseling program based on expressive arts to develop emotional intelligence and positive parenting for mothers of preschool children, using a mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative), through the quasi-experimental design of the experimental and control groups, and the qualitative approach through a focus group that includes(10) mothers from the members of the experimental group, through the questions that are poses to the group. The study scales were applied to a field sample consisting of( 100) mothers of preschool children, with the aim of selecting members of the experimental and control groups consisting of 20 mothers whose children obtained the lowest scores on the emotional intelligence and positive parenting scales. They were divided equally according to their scores on the two scales into two groups, one experimental and the other control, with 10 mothers for each group. The counseling program, consisting of 13 sessions, two sessions per week, with each session lasting 90 minutes, was applied to the experimental group. Pre-test and initial measurements were taken on both groups, while follow-up measurements were applied to the experimental group eight weeks after the program was completed. The results show a lack of normal data distribution. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data (Mann-Whitney test and Wilcoxon test). The results showed statistically significant differences at the significance level (α 05. ≥) between the mean ranks of the two groups (experimental and control) in the post-test of the emotional intelligence and positive parenting scales and their dimensions, in favor of the experimental group. The mean of positive ranks is greater than the mean of negative ranks, reflecting a clear improvement in emotional intelligence and positive parenting scores in favor of the post-test. Consequently, the program is effective in developing emotional intelligence and positive parenting among mothers of preschool children, as the effect size value was high, reaching (r = .744; .623), respectively. The results of the focus group (10 mothers) supports the quantitative results of the study and enhances the clarity of the effectiveness of the applied counseling program. The results indicate the continued impact of the counselling programme on developing emotional intelligence and positive parenting in mothers after the follow-up period. The study recommends applying the counseling program to similar samples in the Palestinian environment, and developing specialized programs to educate parents about the concept of positive parenting and its importance in developing emotional intelligence skills in children.