Twin parenting experience - reshaping the family web

ABSTRACT

Being a parent of twin siblings is a major challenge for parents and requires a family restructuring to adapt to a new family environment. Objective: To understand the experiences of parents of twins and meanings attri-buted to them. Methods: a qualitative study was conducted, having the symbolic interactionism as a theoretical referential and the interpretative interactionism as the methodologi-cal referential. Twenty-nine parents with children under 4 years participated in this study. A semi-structured interview was conducted for data collection. Results: The twins family responses to parenting challenges are conditioned by the management and articulation of their difficulties, their strengths and personal re-sources. There is a clear choice in being a family with children that privileges nego-tiation and involvement of the couple in caring for the family, or, at least, part of the family, meaning the children and playing the parenting role. Conclusions: The family grows as a complex web, including its elements and inte-ractions. The symbolic construction evidences the way the family adjusts to this en-vironment of twin parenting. The health professionals should be able to anticipate the needs of families going through this process.

RESUMEN

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