Resumen

HENRIQUEZ-SANHUEZA, Alejandra; OYANADEL, Cristian  y  CUADRA-MARTINEZ, David. Teorías subjetivas sobre el tiempo de espera y experiencias de la parentalidad adoptiva. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2023, vol.40, n.2, pp.393-408. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.16888/interd.2023.40.2.23.

The adoption process includes important changes in adoptive families, since it implies a restructuring and adaptation to a new organization of the family system. The path to parenthood entails changes at levels of mental, physical and social health, which in the case of adoptive parents, the challenges are greater or are altered in some way due to the unique characteristics of their experiences and the obstacles they face. To these challenges are added the usual stressors that parents face, such as changes in roles, increased stress, lack of sleep, alterations in the relationship and intimacy of the couple and difficulties that arise in raising their children.

On the other hand, time is configured as a concrete dimension through which life develop. The relationship between objective time and subjective or psychological time will shape the perception of time that each person has, which has a role in how both individual and family identity develops. This is because people´s actions are influenced by past experiences, current experiences and future expectations.

One of the areas of the adoption process that has not yet been deepened is the waiting time, the period of time between obtaining the suitability and assignment of the minor to the adoptive family, which can be considered important for the future family depending on how adoptive parents face it, this because the way in which the adoption process is experienced impacts both the path to parenthood and post-adoption adaptation. In fact, it confirms that waiting time influences the psychological well-being of adoptive parents. Therefore, it is possible to say that adoptive parents elaborate subjective theories about this process and especially in relation to the waiting time for adoption, explanations that could influence the way in which they face this new challenge and prepare for parenthood.

The present study aimed to understand subjective theories about the waiting time and experiences of adoptive parenting. Ten adoptive mothers and fathers participated in this study through individual episodic interviews. The data obtained were analyzed using techniques of three analysis procedures: content based on Grounded Theory, specific for subjective theories and time perspective.

Palabras clave : subjective theories; time perspective; adoption; adoptive parenting; qualitative study; waiting time.

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