hrvatski

From discussion with parents: Experience of parents of children of different ages

The parental role is one of the most demanding life roles that can be very fulfilling and simultaneously very challenging and stressful. Parenting today is marked by numerous social changes, so parents are faced with different expectations, pressures and demands in fulfilling their role compared to the parents of previous generations. The dynamics of the modern family, the expectations and aspirations of parents today, facing the challenges of the pandemic, rapid technological development and the availability of various information on parenting are only some factors that can shape the subjective experience of parenting. There is little research in Croatia focusing primarily on parents, particularly qualitative research dealing with the subjective experiences and concerns of parents of children of different age. The paper will show the results of qualitative research conducted as part of the institutional project of the University of Zadar entitled "Parenting Today: Experiences and Challenges", where parenting is considered as dynamic process that has its developmental stages depending on the child's age. The research aimed to capture parents' personal experiences and challenges of children of different ages, early and late childhood, adolescence and already "adult" children. We conducted this qualitative research in various regions of Croatia (Split, Zadar, Biograd, Benkovac and Varaždin), and 103 parents (90 mothers and 13 fathers) participated in 16 focus groups. In presenting the research results, specific topics of parents of children of different ages will be considered in detail, along with the categorization of their personal experiences and challenges. In other words, we will consider parents' answers to questions about the personal experience of the parental role, sources of satisfaction and concern in the parental role and the changes that parents cite as a consequence of the parental role.

contemporary parenting, focus groups, parental competence, parents experience

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