The Effect of Educational Intervention based on Quinn Program on Personality Traits of Preschool Children

Background and Purpose: Research evidence suggests that cognitive development is a critical factor in shaping the personality. This study aimed to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on Quinn's training program on the personality traits (curiosity, devotion to a passion, persistence, a tolerance for failure, and self-control) of preschool children. This experimental study was of pretest-posttest-follow-up design with a control group. The population of the study included the mothers of all 5-year old children presenting the kindergartens and preschools of District 3 of Tehran in the academic year of 2017-2018. A sample of 80 mothers selected by cluster sampling method was randomly divided into two groups of 40. Research tools included pediatric volitional questionnaire (Geist& Kielhofner, 1998), self-control scale (Kendall & Wilcox, 1979) and frustration discomfort scale (Harrington, 2005). The experimental group underwent Quinn's training program in seven 90-minute sessions. Data were analyzed using repeated measure analysis of covariance. Findings of the study showed that Quinn's training program had a significant effect on the personality traits (curiosity, devotion to a passion, persistence, a tolerance for failure, and self-control) of preschool children and that this effect was constant in the follow-up phase (P˂0.01). Based on the findings of the present study, Quinn's training program affected the personality traits of the children by making positive changes in their mothers, e.g. increasing the emotional intelligence.