Self-perceptions of aprenthood among mothers and fathers of young adolescents

Iako je vjerovanje da je djetetova adolescencija jedno od najtežih razdoblja roditeljstva rašireno među laicima i znanstvenicima, malo je empirijskih spoznaja o tome kako roditelji adolescenata doživljavaju vlastitu roditeljsku ulogu. Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati nekoliko aspekata doživljaja roditeljstva roditelja djece u ranoj adolescenciji i provjeriti ovisi li taj doživljaj o spolu roditelja, spolu djeteta i roditeljevu ranijem iskustvu u odgoju djeteta adolescentne dobi. Istraživanje je provedeno na 453 para roditelja djece u dobi od 10 do 15 godina, od kojih je 26% imalo ranije roditeljsko iskustvo s djetetom adolescentne dobi, dok su ostali po prvi put imali dijete u adolescenciji. Utvrđeno je da većina roditelja ima negativan stav prema adolescenciji, ali vlastitu roditeljsku ulogu doživljavaju pozitivno. Spol roditelja bio je značajan činitelj za tri od sedam ispitanih aspekata doživljaja roditeljstva (majke su imale negativnije stavove prema adolescenciji od očeva te su izvijestile o većoj važnosti roditeljstva i jačem roditeljskom stresu), a spol djeteta za jedan (roditelji ženske djece imali su internalniji roditeljski lokus kontrole od roditelja muške djece). Ranije iskustvo imalo je negativan učinak na doživljaj roditeljske samoefikasnosti oba roditelja i na očevo zadovoljstvo roditeljstvom. U raspravi je istaknuta važnost poznavanja različitih aspekata subjektivnog doživljaja roditeljske uloge i ispitivanja činitelja povezanih s tim doživljajem.Although both lay persons and scientists tend to believe that a child\u27s adolescence is one of the most difficult periods of parenthood, there is little empirical data about self-perception of parenthood among parents of adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine several aspects of self-perception of parenthood among mothers and fathers of young adolescents, and their relationships with the parent’s and child’s gender, and parental prior experience in the parenting of an adolescent child. Participants were 453 pairs of mothers and fathers of young adolescents aged 10 to 15 years, among whom 26% had prior experience of parenting an adolescent child, while the remaining ones had their first-born child in early adolescence. The results showed that most parents had a negative attitude toward adolescence. In spite of this, they perceived their own parenting role positively. Parent’s gender was an important factor for three out of seven measured aspects of self-perception of parenthood (in comparison with fathers, mothers had more negative attitudes toward adolescence and reported greater importance of parenting and higher parenting stress), and child’s gender just for one (parents of female children scored higher on parenting internal locus of control than parents of male children). Prior experience had a negative effect on parenting self-efficacy of both parents, as well as on fathers\u27 satisfaction with parenthood. The importance of investigating various aspects of self-perceived parenthood among parents of adolescents, as well as factors related to them, was emphasized in the discussion