Abstract:
This qualitative research employed the case study method to identify the factors that fostered resilience and to illustrate the process of resilience development in six adolescent mothers with unplanned pregnancy in Chiang Mai. The participants were 18 to 25 years old with childbirth experience that had caused academic leave. The age of their first child was not older than five years old. The data was collected by in-depth interview, then it was categorized and analyzed by using Masten (2014)'s definition of resilience and Grotberg (1995)'s characteristics of resilience.
The findings found matching factors fostering resilience in all six participants, as follows. I HAVE consisted of receiving love, warmth and acceptance from family, teachers and friends. I AM consisted of good temperament, ability to express love, empathy and mercy to others, self-pride, hope, faith and confidence. I CAN consisted of problem-solving skills, understanding of self's and others' emotions and feelings. Additionally, motherhood was found to be a factor that fostered resilience among the participants.
The process of resilience development could explain that when the participants encountered life crisis caused by unplanned pregnancy, which was risk factor, the occurrence of the protective factor was induced to minimize the effect from the risk factor, by working with the resiliencefosterinng factors. Normally, protective factors and factors incurring resilience were not present in the absence of adversity. The effect of the occurrence of risk factors, protective factors and resiliencefostering factors caused the participants to be able to overcome life crisis caused by unplanned pregnancy, without any negative outcomes.
The results can be applied to the prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health, as well as to the administration of suitable welfare for adolescent mothers with unplanned pregnancy so that they can improve their quality of life in the future.