Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on

This study explored the psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a University in Ghana. It adopted a qualitative phenomenological research approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Participants involved pregnant and parenting student mothers pursuing degree progra...

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Main Author: John N-yelbi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Global Association of Educational and Research in Psychology 2024-09-01
Series:International Journal of Studies in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1324
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author John N-yelbi
author_facet John N-yelbi
author_sort John N-yelbi
collection DOAJ
description This study explored the psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a University in Ghana. It adopted a qualitative phenomenological research approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Participants involved pregnant and parenting student mothers pursuing degree programmes during the 2023/2024 academic year. Twelve participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. This study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation for data collection. Thematic results indicated that pregnant and parenting student mothers face various psychological challenges such as stigmatisation, discrimination, guilt feelings and low self-esteem, and difficulty with concentration and learning. They revealed that pregnant and parenting student mothers cope with these psychosocial challenges by avoiding contact with other students, prioritising and planning, and making sacrifices as coping strategies and making sacrifices. The study concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers pursing higher degrees at the university are fraught with numerous psychosocial challenges emanating from colleagues, friends, and lecturers. It further concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers adopted avoiding contact with other students, priortising and planning and making sacrifices coping strategies. It is recommended that school counsellors should organise group guidance for pregnant and parenting student mothers to enable them to cope with their situation. This would help the smooth integration of pregnant and parenting student mothers and improve their psychological outcomes, which may enhance their academic pursuits.
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spelling doaj-art-5614414e8dc84f25a7ed2e46e97b15f02024-11-27T10:40:14ZengGlobal Association of Educational and Research in PsychologyInternational Journal of Studies in Psychology2710-23192710-23272024-09-0142505510.38140/ijspsy.v4i2.13241288Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving onJohn N-yelbi0University of Education, WinnebaThis study explored the psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a University in Ghana. It adopted a qualitative phenomenological research approach underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. Participants involved pregnant and parenting student mothers pursuing degree programmes during the 2023/2024 academic year. Twelve participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. This study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation for data collection. Thematic results indicated that pregnant and parenting student mothers face various psychological challenges such as stigmatisation, discrimination, guilt feelings and low self-esteem, and difficulty with concentration and learning. They revealed that pregnant and parenting student mothers cope with these psychosocial challenges by avoiding contact with other students, prioritising and planning, and making sacrifices as coping strategies and making sacrifices. The study concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers pursing higher degrees at the university are fraught with numerous psychosocial challenges emanating from colleagues, friends, and lecturers. It further concludes that pregnant and parenting student mothers adopted avoiding contact with other students, priortising and planning and making sacrifices coping strategies. It is recommended that school counsellors should organise group guidance for pregnant and parenting student mothers to enable them to cope with their situation. This would help the smooth integration of pregnant and parenting student mothers and improve their psychological outcomes, which may enhance their academic pursuits.https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1324parenting student motherspregnant student motherspsychosocial challenges
spellingShingle John N-yelbi
Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
International Journal of Studies in Psychology
parenting student mothers
pregnant student mothers
psychosocial challenges
title Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
title_full Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
title_fullStr Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
title_full_unstemmed Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
title_short Exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in Ghana: A dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
title_sort exploring psychosocial challenges of pregnant and parenting student mothers at a university in ghana a dilemma between discontinuity and moving on
topic parenting student mothers
pregnant student mothers
psychosocial challenges
url https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1324
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