The Role of Parent's Personality Traits in the Social Development of Preschool Children

Background and Previous studies have shown that parents play an important role in children's mental and physical development; however, research on the impact of parental personality traits on children's social development is low. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of parent’s personality traits in the social development of preschool children.
The present study is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included all the mothers and fathers of preschool children in Tehran during the school year of 2016-2017. 508 parents (mother or father) were selected by referral to pre-school centers in Tehran and using multistage cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Vineland social maturity scale (Edgar, 1956) and NEO-personality inventory – revised questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis (stepwise).
Regression analysis showed neuroticism of parents (mother or father) had negative predictive for social development of preschool children and extroversion, openness and conscientiousness of parents (mother or father) had positive predictive for social development of preschool children(P Based on the findings of this study, it can be conclude that parent’s personality traits have a significant effect on the social development of preschool children. Therefore, according to the importance of personality traits on the social development of children, it is necessary to pay special attention to the characteristics and personality traits of the parents in the process of education of children.