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Social Sciences and Childhood
2025. Vol. 6, no. 2, 5–26
doi:10.17759/ssc.2025060201
ISSN: 2713-0584 (online)

Psychological literacy of parents of preschool children in an information-saturated environment (the case of Kazakhstan)

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Parental psychological literacy is increasingly recognized as a key factor in shaping children’s developmental environments. In the context of early childhood education reform in Kazakhstan, parents’ roles are evolving from passive observers to active participants in the educational process. Given that the Kazakhstani educational system provides instruction in both Russian and Kazakh, it is essential for the study to consider the linguistic affiliation of parents. Objective. This study aims to assess the level of psychological literacy among parents of preschool children, as well as their information-seeking behavior and interaction with specialists. Hypotheses. The difficulties of parents in working independently with a child are related to the degree of satisfaction of the need for professional support. The language of parents influences the formation of psychological literacy, the choice of information and its use. The type of information sources affects the frequency of parents' visits to specialists. The frequency of communication with specialists correlates with the assessment of the effectiveness of the methods used by parents at home. Methods. An online survey was conducted among 457 parents of preschool-aged children from Almaty, Kazakhstan (266 Russian-speaking group and 191 Kazakh-speaking group). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used. Results. Kazakh-speaking parents report higher psychological information consumption and a stronger tendency to seek help, particularly in emotionally uncertain situations. Russian-speaking parents showed little correlation between difficulties and professional outreach. No significant relationship was found between information source types and need for support. Perceived method effectiveness was not associated with frequency of interaction with specialists. Conclusions. Findings indicate an institutional gap: despite high information availability, parents act in isolation even when they struggle to apply knowledge in practice. There is a need for a culturally relevant, structured support system to help parents interpret and implement developmental guidance.

General Information

Keywords: psychological literacy, early childhood, parenting, Kazakhstan, institutional support, informational saturation

Journal rubric: Pedagogy and Psychology of Education

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/ssc.2025060201

Funding. This study was carried out with financial support from the Kazakhstan Corporate Foundation El Umiti as part of the project on psychological support for parents within the Qabilet service.

Acknowledgements. The author extends sincere thanks to the directors of two public preschool institutions in Almaty for their support in organizing and conducting the survey.

Supplemental data. The datasets used in this study are not publicly available and are the property of the Kazakhstan Corporate Foundation El Umiti.

Received 10.05.2025

Revised 20.08.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Khan, J.A. (2025). Psychological literacy of parents of preschool children in an information-saturated environment (the case of Kazakhstan). Social Sciences and Childhood, 6(2), 5–26. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/ssc.2025060201

© Khan J.A., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Julia A. Khan, PhD, Research Fellow and Project Lead for Parental Support at the Qabilet Psychological Service, Corporate Foundation “El Umiti” Foundation”, Astana, Kazakhstan, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3625-6262, e-mail: leel-han@yandex.ru

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The research was conducted in strict accordance with ethical standards outlined in the Helsinki Declaration (1964).

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