Abstract:
The objective of this research was to study the current situation and processes of early
adolescent parenting, to define parenting skills and factors related to early adole scent
parenting skills, and to recommend methods for early adolescent parenting skills development
in the Bangkok context. The target group was 20 couples whose early adolescent children
were studying in Matthayom 2 (grade 8) in Rajathewee district. To establish this target group,
a quantitative survey was conducted with 328 students and asked questions about their levels
of satisfaction with parenting practice in their families. The data was used to categorize the 20
couples as having either high or low parenting skill tendency. Qualitative data was obtained
from the parents by indepth interviews and analyzed by Constant Comparison method. The
results were as follows:
The information from the 328 students revealed that most of them live with and were
reared by their parents in nuclear family situations. The mothers were key persons in the
children’s care. Parenting practice in most families emphasized the child’s physical,
intellectual, and social development facilitation. It was found that parenting practice in intact
families was more satisfactory for children than in broken families.
In intact families, joint parenting between the couples was a process involving
discussion to establish parenting guidelines, practicing the guidelines, clear perception and
evaluation of the guideline outcomes, and adaptation for more suitable practice. Because
parenting practice of the couple s with high parenting skill tendency was more complete, more
suitable for specific situations in their families, and more satisfactory for both parents and
children rather than that of the couples with low parenting skill tendency, parenting skill can
be defined as “an ability of parents to enhance child’s development and satisfy child’s
demands completely and suitably for specific situations in their family”.
This research defined factors related to parenting skills as “joint learning between
parents”, “family stress”, and “family resources” with a complex relationship between them.
Owing to the social and family environment in the Bangkok context having widely impacted
parenting practice, methods of early adolescent parenting skills development should be
concentrated on the encouragement of joint learning between parents, an environment
favorable to parenting practice, and social mechanisms to support parents in Bangkok.
The recommendations based on this finding were the couples should enter parental
status with intention, readiness and realization their roles toward all members in their family ,
while the involved agencies should support and promote the couples to effective parenting
practice among the restrictive conditions of the Bangkok context.