This study investigated mother's parental practices, having as starting point the oral self-report of mothers of children aged up to 12 years old, obtained through semi-structured individual interviews. Its aim was to identify the difficulties faced during the rearing of children, as well as mother's parental practices. Mother's self-reports were submitted to content analysis, considering thematic categories, and revealed that the difficulties pointed out during the rearing of children were jealousy, and conflicts related to family rules. The mother's parental practices observed in this study were inductive strategies, of entertainment, of conflict avoidance and of coercive tone. The parameters regarding the use of those strategies were family influences, experiences concerning the rearing of the first child and effort to find the best way of proceeding. The importance attributed to those parameters related to the qualification of parental care was noted. However, the mothers reported use of strategies of coercive tone, which implies physical and/or psychological violence on their relashionships with child.
Mother's parental practices; childhood; children development