The effect of parental attitudes on peer relationships in children aged 5-6 years

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of parental attitudes on peer relationships for children aged 5-6 years. The research data were applied between February-May 2019 in 8 preschool education institutions in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Nicosia, Kyrenia, Famagusta districts and volunteering. 263 families and 25 teachers participated in the descriptive and cross-sectional study. The parents completed the 'Parent Attitude Scale' and the 'Introductory Information Form'. The teachers completed the 'Selcuk Peer Relationship Evaluation Scale' separately for each child.The statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 24 software. 47.5% of the children participating in the study were boys and 52.5% were girls. 16.3% were 5 years old and 83.7% were 6 years old. In the research results examined; It was found that the parent's age, education and relationship with his wife made a difference in his behaviors towards the child. Differences were observed in public and private preschool institutions in the assessment of children's behavioral characteristics. It was concluded that parental attitudes and overprotective attitudes and authoritarian attitudes had negative effects on the peer relationships of the child. An over-protective relationship between parental attitudes and the child's problem-solving ability was found to be in the opposite direction (p<0.05). The authoritarian attitude of the parents negatively affected the peer acceptance of the child (p <0.05). The study found that democratic and permissive parental attitudes did not make a significant difference in the child's behaviour. Key Words: Early childhood, Parental attitudes, Peer relationships, Nursing.