Challenges of Parenting Early Adolescents

While research has focused on the challenges of parenting children of toddler or preschool age, or of children with specific conditions, there is a paucity of research exploring parents’ experiences of the challenges of parenting early adolescents. This research explored mothers’ experience of the challenges in parenting their early adolescent children. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with eight mothers indicate that the mothers experienced early adolescence as a period of significant change and challenge for their children and themselves. They framed “good” mothers as those who actively supported their children, prioritized their children’s needs over their own, and disguised their negative emotions. Mothers reported feelings of guilt and failure at falling below perceived parenting standards. Lack of partner and school support and understanding and time constraints were identified as exacerbating factors. This research contributes to a greater understanding of mothering experiences and offers important implications for the support of adolescents and their mothers.

The Validity and Reliability Study of The Turkish Version of The Multidimensional Parenting Perfectionism Questionnaire

This study aims to adapt the Multidimensional Parenting Perfectionism Scale-B Form (MPPS) to Turkish and to examine its psychometric properties . The sample of the study consisted of 290 parents with one or more children. Of the 290 participant parents, 203 were female and 87 were male. In the current study, along with MPPS B form, Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale was used to determine convergent validity. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to determine the construct validity of the scale, and in order to confirm the results of the analysis Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted. Based on the factor analysis, the factors in the scale were grouped as “Partner’s Parenting Expectations and Criticism”, “Doubts about Parenting Capacity”, “Parenting Organization”, and “Personal Parenting Standards”. The Cronbach alpha values obtained in the analysis ranged between .83 and .93. The results of the analysis suggest that the Turkish version of the MPPS is a psychometrically powerful scale. Keywords: Perfectionism, Parenting Perfectionism, Multidimensional Parenting Perfectionism Scale

Good enough parenting

The concept of Good Enough Parenting, introduced by Winnicott in 1965, has been useful to distinguish between care of children which is not ideal, and care which warrants removal of children from a family. There have been various attempts to turn the concept into practice guidelines, most notably by the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (Adcock & White 1985). However there is a dearth of Australian material and little which is concise.Barnardos Australia believed that it was necessary to produce a short practice paper to address this critical issue in child protection practice. This paper was developed through a series of workshops with Barnardos workers which focused on their practice needs. It was designed to assist in decisions about parenting standards which are difficult, not the most obvious situations of neglect or abuse. The paper suggests ways of thinking about good enough parenting and practical questions to bear in mind in family assessment.