Experience of parental stress and self-assessment of parental compentence of mothers in different types of single-parent families

Obitelj je, kao jedna od najstarijih zajednica društva, tokom povijesti doživljavala brojne promjene svoje strukture. U Hrvatskoj se tokom posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća pojavio trend smanjenja postotka bračnih parova s djecom u ukupnoj demografskoj slici, te povećanje broja jednoroditeljskih obitelji. Jednoroditeljske obitelji nastaju na tri načina: smrću jednog od roditelja, rođenjem djeteta izvan braka, te razvodom braka. Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitati razlike u doživljaju roditeljskog stresa, te samoprocjenama roditeljske kompetentnosti majki u jednoroditeljskim obiteljima s obzirom na broj djece, te tip jednoroditeljske obitelji u kojoj žive. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 150 ispitanica (prosječna dob = 38 godina, 50 udovica, 50 rastavljenih majki i 50 neudanih majki) koje su ispunjavale papir-olovka upitnik. Upitnik se sastojao od Skale roditeljskog stresa, Skale samoprocjene kompetentnosti roditelja, te upitnika općih podataka. Rezultati pokazuju da se majke razlikuju u percipiranoj razini stresa, ali ne i u samoprocjeni roditeljske kompetentnosti s obzirom na broj djece o kojoj skrbe. Majke koje imaju jedno dijete doživljavaju više razine roditeljskog stresa nego majke koje skrbe o dvoje ili više djece. Majke se ne razlikuju u percipiranoj razini stresa, niti samoprocjeni roditeljske kompetentnosti s obzirom kojem tipu jednoroditeljske obitelji prema nastanku pripadaju, odnosno jesu li udovice, razvedene ili neudane. Utvrđena je umjerena negativna povezanost između percepcije vlastite efikasnosti u roditeljskoj ulozi i doživljaja roditeljskog stresa, tj. veća samopercepcija efikasnosti roditelja povezana je sa nižim razinama doživljenog roditeljskog stresa. Utvrđena je umjerena negativna povezanost između zadovoljstva ispunjavanjem roditeljske uloge i doživljaja roditeljskog stresa, tj. veće zadovoljstvo ispunjavanjem roditeljske uloge je povezano sa nižim razinama doživljenog roditeljskog stresa.The family, as one of the oldest communities of society, has undergone many changes in its structure throughout history. In Croatia, over the last few decades, there has been a trend of a decrease in the percentage of married couples with children in the overall demographic picture, and an increase in the number of single-parent families. Single-parent families are created in three ways: the death of one parent, the birth of a child out of wedlock, and divorce. The aim of this study was to examine differences in the experience of parenting stress, and self-assessments of maternal parenting competence in single-parent families concerning the number of children, and the type of single-parent family in which they live. The study involved 150 female respondents (mean age = 38 years, 50 widows, 50 divorced mothers, and 50 unmarried mothers) who completed a paper-pen questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of the Parental Stress Scale, the Parental Competence Self-Assessment Scale, and the General Data Questionnaire. The results show that mothers differ in perceived levels of stress, but not in self-assessment of parental competence concerning the number of children they care for. Mothers with one child experience higher levels of parenting stress than mothers who care for two or more children. Mothers do not differ in the perceived level of stress or self-esteem of parental competence concerning which type of single-parent family they belong to, or whether they are widowed, divorced or unmarried. A moderate negative correlation was found between the perception of one's effectiveness in the parental role and the experience of parental stress, ie greater self-perception of parental effectiveness was associated with lower levels of perceived parental stress. A moderate negative association was found between satisfaction with fulfilling the parental role and experiencing parental stress, ie greater satisfaction with fulfilling the parental role was associated with lower levels of experiencing parental stress