INTRODUCTION:

All parents want their children to be happy and successful. At some time most parents wonder whether their children are happy and doing what is expected for their age. Children at times misbehave or unhappy, but these times pass unnoticed. Child’s behavior can be unusual or seem different from other children of the same age. Child may be distressed or behaving unusually or differently from how he was in the past. These changes may be gradual or they may happen quite suddenly. These are the signs that child needs understanding and help¹. There is no consensus about any definition of health. There is knowledge of how to attain a certain level of health, but health itself cannot be measured. Traditionally mental health has been defined in terms of more than an absence of symptoms of mental illness or mental distress².

Mental health is an essential part of children's overall health. It has a complex interactive relationship with their physical health and their ability to succeed in school, at work and in society. Both physical and mental health play a pivotal role, how child thinks, feels and behaves from inside and outside³. Children are an important asset of the Nation. Their nurture and solitude are our responsibility. Hence, programmes for children, should find a prominent part in our national policies for the development of human resources in each sector, so that our children grow up to become responsible citizens⁴. Mental health problems are common in infancy and childhood. It may be because of maternal psychosocial health, which can have a significant effect on the mother-infant relationship, and that this in turn can have consequences for both the short and long-term psychological health of the child⁵.

It is particularly important to take up the issue of parent-child mental health as a part of the maternal and child healthcare, as it will also lead to the prevention of psychological problems in children. Two major problems exist in the mental health aspects of maternal and child health care. They are the anxieties of parents about child-rearing and the relationship between parental stress and the mental state of the child ⁶. Till to date most of population in our society perceive mental illness is because of God, or evil spirit, curse, witch-craft and black-magic. It has been estimated that eighty percent of rural population uses magic-religious as treatment modality

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

As per WHO it is estimated that mental disorders account for increase in global burden of disease and contribute to fourteen percent of worlds premature deaths and years lived with disability. It is predicted that by 2030, mental health problems contribute highest for disease burden among developed countries ⁷. According to recent reports of UNESCO ten percent of 5-15 year olds have a diagnosable mental health disorder. This suggests that around 50 million children under eighteen would benefit from specialist services. Around ninety percent of children with a mental health disorder are not receiving any specialist services ⁸.

A cross-sectional six months (Oct08-Mar09) survey by AIIMS New Delhi examined knowledge attitude and practice regarding mental illness among hundred parents (Fathers: Mother:: 33:67).Assessment on structured interview scheduled showed that sixty percent were aware of common mental disorders and signs/symptoms of mental illness, 35% had knowledge about causes of mental illness, 42% had awareness and knowledge about treatment, 30% were aware about prognosis. Most of them had negative attitude about the mental illness. After reviewing the literature it was known that parents knowledge regarding promotion of their children’s mental health was poor, and by the investigators own experience and observation it was evident that many parents believed in sever corporal punishment to discipline their children. All these factors suggested that there is a strong need to conduct planned teaching program on promotion of child mental health among parents to increase mental health literacy and develop a positive attitude among parents towards mental illness and its early treatment.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To determine the existing level of knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health among mothers.

2. To assess the effectiveness of planned teaching program on knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health among mothers.

3. To determine the association between knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health and socio-demographic variables.

4. To determine the existing level of knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health among mothers.

5. To assess the effectiveness of planned teaching program on knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health among mothers.

6. To determine the association between knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health and socio-demographic variables.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION:

1. Effectiveness:

Refers to the extent to which the planned teaching program on promotion of child mental health among mothers will achieve the desired effect as expressed by the mother’s gain in post test knowledge score.

2. Planned Teaching Programme:

Education given to parents regarding the meaning, causes, signs and symptoms, prevention and management of child mental health.

3. Knowledge regarding promotion of child mental health:

Refers to the correct responses given by the parents to the knowledge in a structured interview schedule regarding promotion of child mental health that is a state of emotional and psychological well being in which an individual is able to use his or her cognitive and emotional capabilities, function in society and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life and expressed in terms of knowledge score.

4. Mother:

A mother is a woman rearing a child, given birth to a child, and between 20 to 40 years of age and who are residing in selected community area at Dharwad.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Sources of data:

The data collected from the mothers residing in the community area.

Methods of data collection:

Type of study/ research approach:

Evaluative study

Research design:

Pretest post test control group design

Variables:

o Independent variable: Planned teaching program

o Dependent variables: knowledge of mothers regarding promotion of child mental health

o Attribute variable: age, religion, education, occupation of mothers, and family monthly income, type of family and language.

Sampling technique:

Simple random sampling technique

Sample and sample size:

The sample for the present study consisted of 28 mothers.

Selection criteria:

Inclusion criteria:

§ able to understand kannada

§ who are willing to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria:

§ Who are not available during the time of data collection?

Follow up:

Post test conducted at end of four weeks after pretest.

Hypothesis

There is a significant improvement in the level of knowledge scores of mothers after their exposure to the planned teaching program

Projected Outcome:

The study will increase the knowledge scores of mothers after their exposure to the planned teaching program.

Hypothesis:

H₁: There is a significant improvement in knowledge of mothers regarding promotion of child mental health

RESULTS:

Analysis refers to a number of closely related operations which are performed with the purpose of summarizing the collected data and organizing the data in such a manner that they answer the research questions. One group pre-test, post design with experimental approach was used in the present study. The data collected from the mothers resides in selected community area at Dharwad. The data collected were organized, tabulated, analyzed and interpreted by using the descriptive and inferential statistics and is described .The findings are presented under the following sections.

Section A. In this section a description of demographic variables of the subjects is drawn and its percentage analysis has been done. Demographic variables

Table Age of the mother:

Age	Frequency	Percent
20-30	17	60.7
31-40	11	39.3

The above table shows that 60.7 percent of the respondents come under the age group of 20 to 30 years, and belong to the age group of 31 to 40 years. While 39.3 percent.

Number of Children:

Frequency	Percent
28	100.0

The above table shows that 100 percent of the respondents 28 years.

Religion:

Frequency	Percent
10	35.7
10	35.7
8	28.6

The above table shows that 35.7 percent of the respondents belonged to Hindu religion and 35.7 percent of the respondents are the Muslim religion. The remaining 28.6 per cent of the respondents are from Christian.

Marital status:

Frequency	Percent
26	92.9
2	7.1

The above table revealed that 92.9 per cent of the respondents are married 7.1 per cent of the respondents are the unmarried.

Educational qualification of mother:

Frequency	Percent
10	35.7
9	32.1
9	32.1

The above table shows that 35.7 percent of the respondents are No formal education and 32.1 per cent of the respondents are the primary education, The remaining 32.1 per cent of the respondents Higher education.

Mother tongue:

Frequency	Percent
6	21.4
8	28.6
14	50.0

Monthly family income in rupees:

Rupees	Frequency	Percent
1k	1	3.6
2k	7	25.0
3k	3	10.7
5k	10	35.7
6k	3	10.7
7k	1	3.6
8k	2	7.1
9k	1	3.6

Type of family:

Frequency	Percent
15	53.6
13	46.4

Place of residence:

Frequency	Percent
4	14.3
24	85.7

Mother’s occupation:

Frequency	Percent
2	7.1
26	92.9

Section B: In this section knowledge level of mothers were assessed.

	PRETEST	POSTTEST
Mean	5.50	20.25
Median	3.00	21.00
Mode	3	23
Std. Deviation	4.827	5.461
Minimum	0	3
Maximum	19	34

Section C: In this section pre test and post test knowledge of mother’s have been examined.

Pretest
Score	Frequency	Percent
0	1	3.6
1	1	3.6
2	3	10.7
3	11	39.3
4	2	7.1
5	2	7.1
6	1	3.6
7	1	3.6
11	2	7.1
12	1	3.6
15	2	7.1
19	1	3.6

Post test
Score	Frequency	Percent
3	1	3.6
13	1	3.6
14	1	3.6
15	2	7.1
17	2	7.1
18	2	7.1
19	2	7.1
20	1	3.6
21	3	10.7
22	1	3.6
23	6	21.4
24	3	10.7
25	2	7.1
34	1	3.6

Section D: Examination of effectiveness of planned teaching program in terms as of gain in knowledge has been done.

T test

	Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean
Posttest	20.25	28	5.461	1.032
Pretest	5.50	28	4.827	.912

Section E: Association between the pre test knowledge scores and selected variables has been identified Relation between knowledge and demographic variables

Sl No	Characteristics	Category	Respondents		Ch-square value	Df	P-value	Inference
			Below median	Median and above
1	Age of the mother	21-30	6	11	8.435^a	1	.004	S*
		31-40	10	1
2	Number of children	28	16	12	--
3	Religion	Hindu	5	5	.335^a	2	.846	NS
		Muslim	6	4
		Christian	5	3
4	Marital status	Married	15	11	.045^a	1	.832	NS
		Unmarried	1	1
5	Educational qualification of mother	No formal education	6	4	.959^a	2	.619	NS
		Primary education	6	3
		Higher secondary education	4	5
6	Mother tongue	Kannada	2	4	1.774^a	2	.412	NS
		Hindi	5	3
		Telugu	9	5
7	Monthly family income in Rupees	1-5k	11	10	3.306^a	7	.855	NS
		6-9k	5	2
8	Type of family	Nuclear	9	6	.108^a	1	.743	NS
		Joint	7	6
9	Place of residence	Rural	2	2	.097^a	1	.755	NS
		Urban	14	10
10	Mother’s occupation	Employed	0	2	2.872^a	1	.090	NS
		Unemployed	16	10

Among all the variables age of the mother is significant because obtained P value is lesser than the table value.