| There has been limited research aimed at understanding women's midlife development from the perspective of launching a child. The positivist-empiricist paradigm coupled with biased sampling of clinical populations of women have contributed to negative stereotyping of midlife women. The purpose of this study was to describe midlife mothers' lived experience of launching a child. The primary research question was, "What is the meaning of the lived experience of launching a child?" The sensitizing framework was derived from the Theory of Nursing for Whole Person (Oral Roberts University, 1992) and Schlossberg's (1981) model of transition. A qualitative, phenomenological research methodology was used. The purposive sample was comprised of fourteen midlife mothers, diverse in ethnicity and socioeconomic status, who had launched a child within five months to three years of interview. Semi-structured interviews elicited thick descriptions of the women's experiences of launching a child. Data analysis proceeded in a manner suggested by Colaizzi (1978). Salient theme clusters aggregated from formulated meanings included (a) the mother's own launching, (b) maturational imperative, (c) the breaking of the branch, (d) letting go, (e) family ties, and (f) a mother's metamorphosis. Launching spans a prolonged developmental period of mother and child and involves the child's progression through a series of events eventually culminating in his/her adult status. However, events are merely the external markers of launching. Launching is more precisely an internal process achieved through considerable pain which paradoxically leads to the mother's sense of rebirth. Scholarly rigor was demonstrated through the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability as discussed by Lincoln and Guba (1985). The exhaustive description and essential structure of the experience of launching a child represent first level theory development through concept synthesis as identified by Walker and Avant (1988). Findings suggest development of a taxonomy of nursing diagnoses for midlife mothers launching children and a practice theory applicable to a community based health promotion model for midlife mothers. Additionally, the study lays the ground work for future research on the midlife development of women. |
