Investigation of ego resiliency of preschool children according to opinions of mother, father, and teacher

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate ego resiliency of preschool children according to opinions of mother, father, and teacher. Resiliency is the elasticity of an element, and the ability of an element to recover to its original state. Resiliency as protective mechanisms or specifications enables a successful adaptation during development, regardless of high risk factors experienced. The population of the study comprised of 5-6 year-old children, attending the kindergartens of primary schools governed by the Ministry of National Education, located in the city centre of Denizli. The Children’s Ego Resiliency Scales (Mother-Father-Teacher Forms) were completed by 150 mothers, fathers and 25 kindergarten teachers for 150 children. Eisenberg and colleagues adapted Block’s Q-Sort method in 1996 to develop the Children’s Ego Resiliency Scale, which is a measuring instrument that identifies the resiliency level of children. The 12-item scale is used to assess the resiliency level of preschool-primary school children. Evaluation of the scale is scored between 1 and 9; where 1 is “not at all descriptive of resiliency” and 9 is “most descriptive of resiliency.” The scale has no sub-scale. A high score obtained from the scale indicates that children in the study group have a high resiliency level. The adaptation of the scale into Turkish was conducted by Onder and Gulay-Ogelman in 2011. A positively significant relation was determined between the opinions of mothers, fathers, and teachers regarding the ego resiliency levels of children. A significant difference was determined between three ego resiliency levels of children, which were obtained according to information received from three different people. © 2014 European Journal of Research on Education by IASSR.