Child caregiver interaction in institutional homes : the implementation of the MISC program in SOS children’s villages, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study is aimed at finding out whether the MISC program has an impact of increasing mother-child mediational interaction in institutional homes. In order to fulfill this aim, two institutional homes were selected and 8 mothers from one institution were in the intervention group while a group of 9 mothers from the other institution served as the control group. Pre-tests were conducted to see the initial level of interaction as well as determine the equivalency of the two groups of mothers. A two-weeks training on the MISC, focusing on the five principles of Mediated Learning Experience, is given for mothers in the intervention group. After the passage of two months from the end of the training, post-tests were conducted for both the groups of mothers. The results indicated that the two groups of mothers, who had a relatively equivalent level of mediational interaction at the beginning of the study, showed remarkable variation in the post-intervention assessments, in favor of the intervention group.