As the chrysalis develops into a butterfly : exploring the maternal perceptions and concerns with regards to their pre-teens : a qualitative study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to define the experience, feelings, worries, thoughts and ideas of mothers about the pre-adolescent period. The research question of the study is: What stressors and concerns do mothers of pre-teens experience? Five mothers of pre-teens aged from 10 to 11 years participated in a semi-structured interview about their experience of their child's transition into adolescence. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was selected as the method of analysis in order to generate an in depth view about the mothers' experience. Data gathered throughout the interview was transcribed and emergent themes were elicited from each interview. Sub-ordinate and super-ordinate themes were extracted from all interviews. Three principal themes emerged from the participants: 1. adolescence and how it affects relationships with their mothers; 2. developmental issues, fears and worries about pre-teen development and adolescence; 3. the mothers' personal experience and thoughts about competency. Although they describe their experience as a positive one, they still expressed fears about their child's oncoming period. Research findings were discussed in the light of existing literature associated to the adolescent relationship with parents, communication with the adolescent, conflict with parents and problem solving, the adolescent relationship with peers, discussing sexuality and the perception of competence. The strategies for credibility and trustworthiness included: reflexivity, bracketing, participant checking, peer debriefing, verification and the rule of horizontalisation.