Abstract:

The aim of the study is to reveal the views of child brides on their knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences in providing care for their own children and supporting their development from a child development perspective. The model of the research is phenomenology, one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of 20 child brides who married before the age of 18, had at least one child, and were not older than 65 years. Child brides participating in the research were determined by snowball sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, on a voluntary basis. The data of the study were collected using the "Personal Information Form" and the semi-structured "Interview Form" prepared by the researcher. The obtained data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. As a result of the research, child brides emphasized the disadvantages of being a mother at an early age, their perceptions of their level of knowledge about child care and development were negative, they could not get enough social support from their close circles regarding child care and development during pregnancy and postpartum period, and there were various issues related to providing care and supporting their children's development turned out to be having problems. In line with the findings, suggestions were presented to families, educators, legislators and media organizations.

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