Perception of Parents Regarding Decision Making in Terms of Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background of a Study- Children are the most valuable resource in any country. Children living around us are not common subjects but they are responsible citizens of our future in society as well as the world. There is a great emphasis on children being required these days because of the recognition that a very substantial proportion of the world's population, 35-45percentsconstitute young children. The future of our country depends on the positive mental health of our young people. Aim and Objectives-To assess the perception regarding decision-making strategies, and find the interdependence of the Sociodemographic variable on perception in terms of decision-making strategy.

Research-Methodology - Descriptive study design was adopted in the study; data collection was done by the Non-Probability purposive Sampling Technique. Where 56 parents participated in this study.

Results- The assessment of decision making, strategy results revealed that 41 % (23) of parents select school teachers, 27 % (15) select Health care workers, and 32 % (19) select friends and relatives as the first choice of person for consultation in decision making regarding the mental health of children. Regarding the involvement of resource person, 18 % (10) of parents decide with School teachers, 41% (23) with community health workers and 41 % (23) makea decision with friends and relatives. 85.7 % (48) of parentsthink about the involvement of school teachers is beneficial in decision-making strategies regarding the mental health of children, while asking involvement of healthcare workers 96.6 % (53) parents think about the involvement of healthcare workers is beneficial in decision-making strategies regarding the mental health of children. In terms of collaborative decision making 94 % (53) of parents perceive that collaborative decision-making regarding children's mental health is a good strategy. There is an association found between the source of information and the choice of a resource person in decision-making strategies as a computed chi-square value of 18.73 (df2) is greater than the table value of 9.487 at a 0.05 (5 percent) level of significance.

Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that for good decision-making strategies collaborative teaching is beneficial for parents, teachers, and healthcare workers such as Asha workers, ANM, and MPW regarding the mental health of children.