The main objective of this study was to evaluate how “Foreldrehverdag.no” helps parents to feel safer and more confident in their parenting roles. More specifically, the project was about understanding:
- parents’ thoughts and feelings about their parenting
- how thoughts, knowledge and behaviour have changed after using the website
- whether and how their feelings of safety and self-confidence in parenting have changed after using the website.
The study was qualitative, where the information is based on four focus group interviews with an average of four respondents in each group (a total of 15 parents, of which 14 were mothers and 1 was father) from different parts of Norway. Thematic analysis of transcribed interviews was conducted to identify patterns and variations in the parents’ discourse.
Three main themes emerged, where each of the main themes contained two subthemes that were discussed against each other:
- parenting: being versus feeling
- safe/confident parents: being versus feeling
- Foreldrehverdag.no: knowing versus feeling
The analyses indicate that parenthood is seen as a constant dynamic learning process where there are mixed and ambivalent feelings. A particularly ambivalent theme is security and self-confidence, because the theme shows on the one hand that parents know that they cannot master everything, while on the other hand they feel more secure when they master difficult situations. Foreldrehverdag.no was considered particularly useful by parents precisely because it not only provides useful guidance and advice, but also confirms their own feelings when they feel that they are doing something right.
The study discusses potential gaps between providing useful knowledge about parenting practices versus addressing parents' ambivalent feelings, including when parents do not master difficult situations. Based on the study's results, it is suggested that a separate section of the website should be about parents' feelings and contribute to developing self-compassionate parenting.
The study submitted a report from the project to Bufdir in January 2021:
Viana, K. P., Gundersen, A. & Nygaard, E. (2021). Evaluation of Foreldrehverdag.no: a qualitative study. Report to the Norwegian Directorate of Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir)
The report can be downloaded here: Viana, Gundersen & Nygaard (2021) (pdf)