Mrayan Lina, Cornish Flora, Dhungana Nimesh, Parfitt Barbara
Faculty of Nursing Hashemite University, Hashemite University, Zarqa, 13133, Jordan.
Department of Methodology, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, WC2A 2AE, UK.
Appl Nurs Res. 2016 Nov;32:139-143. doi: 10.1016/j.apnr.2016.07.002. Epub 2016 Jul 10.
This study aims to explore new parents' experiences of family support during their transition to parenthood.
Family support is widely considered a crucial factor in contributing toward positive outcomes for parents during transition to parenthood. However, inter-generational and socio-cultural differences among family members in understandings and practices of childcare can be a source of tension between new parents and family members. Few studies have examined the role of family support in the context of rapid social change taking place in Middle Eastern countries. This study aims to address this gap by examining the parenting experiences of young Jordanian couples within the family context they are embedded in.
A qualitative study was conducted in Jordan involving sixty semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Twenty mothers, twenty fathers, and twenty family members identified as support providers were interviewed.
The key theme, "it's too much" emerged from interviews to describe the nature of family support experienced by new parents from marriage to pregnancy and until after the arrival of their first child. The study found varied interpretations of traditional child-care practices among older and younger generation of family members, leading to family conflict. This study also found that the lack of credible information from the health system about child-care compelled them to accept the only available information for them from their parents, often times with much resistance and reluctance. This created a situation of stress and anxiety among young parents and undermined the potential for healthy parenting experience. This study also found that not all social support during early days of parenthood led to beneficial health outcomes to mother and child."Social visiting" by family members to hospital and home, was particularly found to interfere with new parents' pursuit toward privacy and family bonding, immediately following the birth of child.
This study has produced a new understanding of the experience of Jordanian new parents' transition to parenthood. This study particularly sheds light on the current dilemma in which these Jordanian new parents find themselves in, which reflect a clash between traditional and modern values. Although the findings aim to contribute to the body of literature that deals with cultural influences on new parents' experiences in Jordon, the learning could be relevant to the other contexts in the Middle Eastern societies.
本研究旨在探究初为父母者在向父母角色转变过程中获得家庭支持的经历。
家庭支持被广泛认为是初为父母者在角色转变期间取得积极成果的关键因素。然而，家庭成员在育儿理解和实践方面的代际及社会文化差异可能成为初为父母者与家庭成员之间关系紧张的根源。很少有研究考察中东国家在快速社会变革背景下家庭支持的作用。本研究旨在通过考察约旦年轻夫妇在其所处家庭环境中的育儿经历来填补这一空白。
在约旦开展了一项定性研究，涉及60次半结构化深度访谈。对20位母亲、20位父亲以及20位被认定为支持提供者的家庭成员进行了访谈。
访谈中出现了关键主题“负担过重”，用以描述初为父母者从结婚到怀孕直至第一个孩子出生后所经历的家庭支持的性质。研究发现，家庭成员的老一代和年轻一代对传统育儿做法存在不同解读，从而引发家庭冲突。本研究还发现，卫生系统缺乏关于育儿的可靠信息，迫使他们只能接受来自父母的唯一可用信息，而且往往是在极不情愿和抵触的情况下。这在年轻父母中造成了压力和焦虑的局面，破坏了健康育儿体验的可能性。本研究还发现，并非初为父母阶段的所有社会支持都能给母婴带来有益的健康结果。家庭成员到医院和家中的“社交探访”尤其被发现会干扰初为父母者在孩子出生后对隐私和家庭亲密关系的追求。
本研究对约旦初为父母者向父母角色转变的经历有了新的认识。本研究特别揭示了这些约旦初为父母者目前所处的困境，这反映了传统与现代价值观之间的冲突。尽管研究结果旨在为探讨文化对约旦初为父母者经历的影响的文献做出贡献，但这些经验教训可能与中东社会的其他背景相关。
