This study investigated the impact that children’s satisfaction with Community Child Center programs and their peer relations have on their psychosocial adjustment, and then it focused on ways of enhancing the effectiveness of Community Child Center...
This study investigated the impact that children’s satisfaction with Community Child Center programs and their peer relations have on their psychosocial adjustment, and then it focused on ways of enhancing the effectiveness of Community Child Centers and their roles as well as improving the quality of services for children from low-income families.
Study areas cover children’s satisfaction with Community Child Center programs, their peer relations and problem behaviors, and the relationship among children’s program satisfaction, peer relations, and their social ability. Variables affecting children’s program satisfaction, peer relations, and their psychosocial adjustment Variables affecting problem behaviors include social withdrawal, thinking, and distraction; variables affecting social ability include sociability and subscales of academic capability; which were used to examine variables related to the relationship among children’s program satisfaction, peer relations, and their psychosocial adjustment.
To measure program satisfaction, the study used scales translated and adapted by Suh Young-Sook et al. (2000); to examine peer relations, scales translated and adjusted by Han Mi-Hyun(1996). To measure variables affecting psychosocial adjustment, the study used K-YSR(Korean version of Youth Self Report), developed by Achenbach(1991) and translated and standardized by Oh Kyung-Ja et al. (1997). SPSS 12.0 was used in analyzing relationship among variables and frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, T-test, variance analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis followed.
Results of the study are as follows:
First, psychosocial adjustment level was relatively high among children who visit Community Child Centers. Although these children are from low-income families with financial difficulties, they appear to get positive influences in psychosocial adjustment due to emotional support from their parents and siblings, care and education from after-school teachers at Community Child Centers, socializing with friends, interest and understanding of the centers.
Second, in terms of the relationship among children’s satisfaction with Community Child Center programs, peer relations, and their psychosocial adjustment, the more children at a Community Child Center are satisfied with its program and the better they socialize with their peers, the less likely they show problem behaviors and the higher their social ability is.
Third, it turned out that there is a positive relationship between children’s satisfaction with Community Child Center programs and their peer relations. It is indicated that children’s academic performance, peer relations, and satisfaction with various culture programs affect their psychosocial adjustm