PARENTAL INDULGENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG PRE-PRIMARY LEARNERS IN KENYA: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE FROM THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY

Abstract

Psychological well-being in early childhood provides an important foundation for emotional regulation, self-esteem, anxiety management and social competence. Although parenting is widely recognized as a critical developmental context, empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa remains limited regarding how distinct forms of parental indulgence relate to children's psychological functioning. This study examined the relationship between parental indulgence practices and psychological well-being among learners in public pre-primary schools in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya. The study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Ecological Systems Theory and employed a convergent mixed-methods design within a cross-sectional correlational framework. Quantitative evidence comprised 327 learner observation checklists and eight teacher questionnaires, supplemented by qualitative interviews with parents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation and chi-square analysis, while qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Behavioural indulgence was the most frequently observed form of parental indulgence (66.1%), followed by relational indulgence (28.7%) and material indulgence (5.2%). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a differentiated pattern of associations. Material indulgence was weakly positively associated with emotional regulation (r = .18, p < .05), self-esteem (r = .24, p < .05) and social skills (r = .15, p < .05), but was not significantly associated with anxiety management (r = −.12, p > .05). Relational indulgence demonstrated moderate-to-strong positive associations with emotional regulation (r = .51, p < .01), self-esteem (r = .57, p < .01), anxiety management (r = .43, p < .01) and social skills (r = .60, p < .01). In contrast, behavioural indulgence was negatively associated with emotional regulation (r = −.33, p < .01), self-esteem (r = −.29, p < .01), anxiety management (r = −.41, p < .01) and social skills (r = −.35, p < .01). The supplementary chi-square analysis based on the eight teacher respondents was not statistically significant, χ²(12) = 13.00, p = .369. The findings indicate that parental indulgence is not a homogeneous parenting practice: relational warmth and emotional availability were positively associated with psychological functioning, whereas behavioural permissiveness was consistently associated with poorer outcomes. The study concludes that early childhood parenting interventions should emphasize a combination of emotional warmth, responsive caregiving and developmentally appropriate behavioural structure rather than treating indulgence as uniformly beneficial or harmful.