An investigation of verbal interaction, knowledge of sexual behavior and self-concept in adolescent mothers

Variables commonly considered to be major factors in contributing to the incidence of adolescent pregnancy may be only part of the total pattern. This study sought to examine the adolescent mothers' communication with significant others and their knowledge about sex, pregnancy, and birth control methods. Self-concepts of the adolescent mothers were compared with those of the published norms of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The study included 23 adolescent mothers between the ages of 13 and 19 who were gravida 1 as indicated by their medical records. They were given a questionnaire constructed from previous research. They also completed a communication scale and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The findings of the present study indicated that most adolescent mothers considered their communication with their parent mothers to be one of mutual understanding. However, it appears that most adolescent mothers obtain much of their information about sex, pregnancy, and birth control methods from significant others. The self-concepts of these adolescent mothers were lower in comparison to the norm. The results indicate a need for further research in the area of adolescent sexual development, sex education in the school, and increased involvement of parents in the communication of sexual mores.     

Adolescent unwed prospective fathers: readiness for fatherhood and behaviors toward the mother and the expected infant

Despite the increased emphasis on assessing and meeting the needs of unmarried pregnant adolescents, less than adequate attention has been directed toward understanding unwed adolescent prospective fathers who frequently are the mates of pregnant teenagers. As part of a prenatal education intervention study, 28 unmarried adolescent fathers responded to a questionnaire containing items about their readiness for fatherhood, antepartal behavioral interactions, and projected postpartal behaviors with their pregnant adolescent partners, as well as their projected behaviors with their infants. The adolescent males reported that initially they either were definitely unready for paternity (75%) or were undecided about readiness for fatherhood (21%). However, as pregnancy advanced beyond the second trimester, only 57% of the respondents did not want to become fathers. To a significant extent, those who did not were least likely to engage in behaviors supportive of their mate's health antepartally, or to indicate a desire to care for and interact with their expected infant. In addition, they tended to project lower levels of postnatal involvement with the adolescent mothers of their children as compared to those males who were more accepting of their pending fatherhood. Moreover, males who had maintained long prepregnancy relationships with their mates tended to be more supportive of them prenatally, and to perceive themselves as maintaining close relationships with both the mothers and infants after delivery. Finally, 86% of the adolescent fathers planned to work to contribute to the support of their infants. The data demonstrate that unreadiness for fatherhood may be associated with responsible as well as irresponsible behaviors. Accordingly, these data are interpreted as having implications for the establishment of programs and policies which focus on the adolescent male population in order to interdict the high rate of unwed adolescent pregnancy.     

Adoption vs. parenting decisions among pregnant adolescents

The choice of adoption is rare among pregnant adolescents. This exploratory study used regression analyses to ascertain which demographic, social, and intervention variables were related to this decision. The adolescents with mothers who favored adoption and/or had few parenting peer models were more likely to choose adoption. Age, knowledge of peers who had chosen adoption, grades in school, level of involvement in a comprehensive adolescent pregnancy program, and participation in individual therapy or Decision-Making Group were not significantly related to the decision. Decision-Making Group is a once-a-week therapy session that focuses on adoption vs. parenting decisions for pregnant adolescents. Eighty-seven percent of the adolescents who participated in these sessions found them helpful. The policy implications for adolescent pregnancy programs are explored.     

Self-reported depression in younger and older pregnant inner-city adolescents

Younger (14- to 17-year-old) inner-city adolescent mothers have been reported by Colletta (1983) as being more depressed than older (18- to 19-year-old) inner-city adolescent mothers. To determine whether this finding applies to pregnant adolescents, the revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Beck & Steer, 1987) was administered to 175 (65.1%) Black, 64 (23.8%) Hispanic, and 30 (11.1%) White inner-city adolescents during their 28th week of pregnancy. The sample was divided into 129 (48.0%) younger (13- to 15-year-old) adolescents and 140 (52.0%) older (16- to 18-year-old) adolescents. The mean profiles of the 21 BDI symptoms were comparable for both age groups, and it was concluded that younger and older pregnant inner-city adolescents describe similar levels of self-reported depression.     

Repeat pregnancy among urban adolescents: sociodemographic, family, and health factors

First-time adolescent mothers are at high risk for a repeat pregnancy. The present investigation, part of an ongoing longitudinal study, examined sociodemographic, family, and health factors associated with repeat Pregnancy in a clinic sample of urban, first-time adolescent mothers (ages 13 to 17 years). They were predominantly African-American and from low-income households. Repeat pregnancy within one year and between one and two years postpartum was determined from medical records. Summary statistics, point biserial correlations, and chi-square statistics were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that postpartum contraceptive method was associated with repeat pregnancy at Year 1; contraceptive use, maternal age, history of miscarriages, and postpartum contraceptive method were associated with repeat pregnancy at Year 2. It was concluded that efforts to prevent repeat pregnancies among first-time adolescent mothers should include the continuous monitoring of contraceptive use, as well as the promotion of long-acting contraceptives (e.g., medroxyprogesterone or progesterone implants). Further, counseling should be offered to adolescent mothers with a history offered miscarriages.     

Adolescent pregnancy: contributing factors and strategies for prevention.

A questionnaire was administered to pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers to assess both basic needs and factors that may have contributed to their becoming teen parents. Family background and composition, history of sexual abuse, vocational plans and aspirations, and self-esteem were examined. Results and implications for prevention programs and counseling are discussed.     

Preoedipal fixation: Its contribution to pregnancy in early adolescence

The authors studied 50 girls, 15 years old and younger, to determine whether early problems in the relationship with their mothers are a significant component of their becoming pregnant. A pattern of deprivation and inconstancy was found, both in their early care by their teenage mothers and in the care that they were giving to their own infants. This pattern is consistent with Blos's theory that preoedipal fixation can contribute to early pregnancy. The girls' inconsistent care of their children, which perhaps is causing preoedipal fixations, may be laying the groundwork for the continuation of the adolescent pregnancy cycle.     

青少年和母亲知觉的差异及其与青少年问题行为的关系

从辽宁辽阳市选取605名小学五年级至初中二年级、高中一年级至高中三年级学生及其母亲为被试,探讨青少年与其母亲对父母冲突知觉的差异,以及这种知觉差异与青少年问题行为的关系。要求青少年和其母亲分别报告父母过去一年中在10个方面的冲突频率,同时要求青少年报告自己在过去一年中20种问题行为的发生频率。研究发现：青少年对父母冲突的知觉明显比母亲消极,但是到了高中．两者知觉的差异不再明显;青少年与母亲在指向父母自身冲突方面的知觉差异大于指向孩子的父母冲突方面两者的知觉差异;青少年知觉到的父母冲突多于母亲知觉到的父母冲突的人数比例高于青少年知觉到的父母冲突少于母亲知觉到的父母冲突的人数比例;青少年与母亲对父母冲突知觉的差异会增加青少年出现问题行为的可能性。     

Paradox of Parental Involvement in Sexual Health and Induced Abortions Among In-school Female Adolescents in Southwest Nigeria

Prevalent early sexual initiation and unprotected sex involvement with various partners create dilemmas for adolescents and their parents. This article explores parents' involvement in their adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health, particularly with respect to terminating unintended pregnancies. This was done to gain an understanding of the dynamics of parental involvement in resolving anxieties concerning unintended pregnancy and the reasons for seeking induced abortions. The study used a mixed method approach, and 460 female students aged 13–20 years completed the self-administered questionnaire. Thirty-three parents who had an adolescent daughter in school and 31 female adolescents participated in eight different focus group discussion sessions, respectively. A quarter of the respondents had been pregnant at least once. All the females who had ever become pregnant had tried to terminate the pregnancy. Few (9 %) had used contraception at their last sexual intercourse. Twenty nine percent of the respondents had discussed sexual matters with their parents and 82 % preferred discussing such matters with their mothers. In the qualitative findings, some of the parents reported not having been involved in or supportive of terminating their daughter's pregnancy, but confirmed that some mothers had reasons to support induced abortions. Major reasons for mothers' involvement in their daughters' induced abortions were to avoid the social stigma, disruption of schooling and financial stress associated with unintended pregnancy. Resolving conflicting parental interests and values concerning adolescent sexuality and induced abortions is essential for promoting adolescent sexual health in Nigeria.     

Mother and daughter perceptions of their relationship: the influence of adolescent pregnancy status

This investigation focused on the perceived relationships between 95 mothers and their adolescent daughters. It sought to determine if there was a significant difference in the mother-daughter relationship as perceived by pregnant versus nonpregnant adolescents, and whether the mothers of these two groups, when compared to each other, differed in their feelings for their daughters. In contrast to other investigations, no striking differences between the groups in intimacy, attachment, and strength of feeling as indicated by a questionnaire were found, though results were generally in the predicted direction. Nevertheless, a strong correlation between daughters' and mothers' answers was found, indicating an overall positive perception by both toward their relationship.     

The lived experiences of single mothers in Swaziland of their son's aggressive behaviour

The study explored and described the lived experiences of single mothers and described guidelines for psychiatric nurses to facilitate the mental health of single mothers subjected to aggression by their adolescent sons. Participants were a purposive sample of 8 (single mothers, aged between 40 and 50 years, 7 mothers were employed and 3 were professionally trained, 4 mothers were domestic workers and 1 earned living by selling vegetables). The mothers attended the outpatient department at the National Psychiatric Hospital in Swaziland because of being exposed to aggression by their adolescent sons and had adolescent sons living with them 6 months prior to as well as during the study. Data were collected using individual in-depth phenomenological interviews, direct observation and field notes. Analyses used thematic coding. Results reflected that single mothers experienced their adolescent sons as disrespectful and violent, they had negative experiences about their adolescent sons which resulted in anxiety related symptoms, they had negative experiences of self and experienced poor relationships with their neighbours. Guidelines concerning intra- and interpersonal challenges were formulated for the psychiatric nurse to facilitate the mental health of these mothers.     

Initial parenting attitudes of pregnant adolescents and a comparison with the decision about adoption

The Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory was used to examine the initial parenting attitudes of a sample of pregnant adolescents. In addition, the attitudes about parenting were correlated with the decision of the adolescent to either keep or place the baby for adoption. Pregnant adolescents scored significantly lower on the "expectations for children" construct than all groups of controls. They scored significantly higher than adolescent controls on the "empathy" construct but lower than the adult controls. On the "corporal punishment" construct, they scored significantly lower than nonabused adolescent controls but were similar to abused adolescent controls. On the "role-reversal" construct, they scored significantly higher than abused adolescent controls, lower than adult controls, and about the same as nonabused adolescent controls. Adolescents who placed their babies had significantly lower scores on the role-reversal measure, but the differences between keepers and placers on the expectations, empathy, and corporal punishment dimensions were not significant. The results are discussed in terms of (1) the areas where attitudes about parenting are below appropriate levels, (2) the possibility of competent teenage mothers, and (3) the groundwork necessary for preparing adolescents for parenthood should they elect to keep their babies.     

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: A Review of 25 Years of Professional Literature

Twenty‐one articles from peer‐reviewed journals published over 25 years (1983–2008) were selected for inclusion in a review of the professional literature on adolescent mothers' career development. Findings identified that the selected literature included a variety of research methods and theoretical approaches, identified areas of need for this population, and discussed impediments to the career development of adolescent mothers. The most frequent recommendations, aside from the need for further research, were to develop and implement comprehensive programs for adolescent mothers that are strength based and responsive to their needs, and to foster career development skills/knowledge and resiliency.     

Do Marital Conflict Behaviors in Response to a Novel Stressor Uniquely Predict Adolescent Outcomes?

The goal of this study was to examine whether mothers’ and fathers’ marital conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor are uniquely predictive of adolescent outcomes. Previous research establishing the detrimental consequences of marital conflict for child outcomes has relied exclusively on assessments of conflict that measure reoccurring or past conflict. From 153 adolescents and/or both of their parents, reports were gathered on marital conflict, adolescent conflict appraisals, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and adolescent adjustment. Couples engaged in two marital problem-solving interaction tasks—one that elicited conflict behaviors by requiring discussion of salient, reoccurring topics of disagreement and one that prompted conflict behaviors by requiring that couples worked together to solve an unfamiliar problem. Results indicated that compared to behaviors during the marital conflict discussion as well as parent-reports of the frequency, intensity, and resolution of typical conflict, conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor, particularly those displayed by mothers, were uniquely associated with adolescents’ conflict appraisals and dimensions of the parent-adolescent relationship but not adolescent adjustment. Specifically more-negative (relative to positive) conflict behaviors in response to the novel stressor was associated with more-negative adolescent conflict appraisals; mothers’ more-negative conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor were also linked to adolescents reporting less parental monitoring. In contrast, parent reports of typical marital conflict uniquely predicted conflict property appraisals, the affective quality of mother-adolescent relationships, and adolescent adjustment. Implications for future research elucidating associations between conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor on children and families are discussed.     

Dissimilarity in mother and adolescent illness representations of type 1 diabetes and negative emotional adjustment

The study explored how two measures of mother–adolescent dissimilarity in illness representations relate to negative emotional adjustment in mothers and adolescents. Eighty-four adolescents with type 1 diabetes (age 11.5–17.5) and their mothers completed the Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire and measures of negative emotional adjustment. Adolescents viewed diabetes as less chronic, containing fewer negative emotional representations, and that mother had less control over the illness than did mothers. Mother–adolescent mean differences in representations were not associated with negative adjustment for adolescents; mean differences in coherence were related to negative adjustment for mothers, when controlling the individual's own representations. A measure of dissimilarity based on the sum of squared differences between mother and adolescent was associated with negative adolescent adjustment when controlling adolescent's own representations, but no relations were found for mothers. Dyadic approaches to coping with chronic illness will benefit by understanding how dissimilarity in illness representations between patient and caregiver relate to adjustment.     

Infants of adolescent and adult mothers: two indices of socioemotional development

This study compared infant-mother attachment and mastery motivation in one-year-old babies born to adolescent and adult mothers. In the laboratory, the infants' mastery motivation was assessed in an experimenter-administered structured toy play session and infant-mother attachment was classified on the basis of the strange situation procedure. The results indicated that there were more, although not significantly so, securely attached infants among those born to adult than to adolescent mothers (70% as compared to 53%). The relatively low number of securely attached infants in the adolescent mother group may reflect the fact that in many cases the mothers were not the primary caretakers. Among the adolescents, the majority were living with their family of origin. Nevertheless, their infants' motivation to master the environment, assessed independently, compared favorably with that of the adult mother group. Infants of adolescent mothers were significantly more persistent than were those born to adult mothers, although they were affectively less positive during the toy play. It is suggested that the socioemotional development of infants born to adolescent mothers may be buffered by a network containing multiple caretakers. Finally, the relationship between attachment and mastery motivation was examined. The results showed that infants with an avoidant or secure attachment relationship were more persistent as well as competent than were ambivalent infants during free play.     

Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development

Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers’ parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (6 months after birth), and its impact on infant development 1 year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants 1 year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children.     

Birth characteristics and developmental outcomes of infants of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers: Risk and promotive factors

Infants of adolescent mothers are at increased risk for negative developmental outcomes. Given the high rate of pregnancy among Mexican-origin adolescent females in the US, the present study examined health characteristics at birth and developmental functioning at 10 months of age in a sample of 205 infants of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers. Infants were relatively healthy at birth and had near average developmental functioning at 10 months. The educational attainment of adolescents and their mothers, and infants' temperamental regulation, promoted positive developmental functioning, while the combination of low adolescent parental self-efficacy and high infant temperamental negativity was associated with greater developmental delay. Findings are discussed with respect to implications for prevention with this at-risk population of mothers and infants.     

Touch by Intrusive and Withdrawn Mothers with Depressive Symptoms

Interaction behaviours of 88 adolescent mothers with depressive symptoms and their 3-month-old infants were videotaped and coded for different types of touch. The ‘depressed’ mothers were classified as intrusive, withdrawm or good by one observer and another observer coded rough tickling, poking, tugging and pulling as negative touch behaviours and gentle stroking and rubbing as positive touch behaviours. The mothers with depressive symptoms were more likely to touch their infants in a negative way and more likely to be classified as intrusive.     

Sharing Attention to Toys: Adolescent Mother–Toddler versus Adult Mother–Toddler Dyads

This study examined whether there were differences in the joint attention behaviours of adolescent mothers and toddlers and adult mothers and toddlers. The timing of mothers' attention-directing behaviours (i.e. maintaining, introducing and redirecting) as well as the specific behaviours (i.e. showing, offering and demon-strating toy) they used to direct their toddlers' attention to toys were observed. The observers also coded the specific joint attention behaviours that the toddlers used. The findings showed that the adolescent mothers redirected their toddlers' attention away from a toy they were interested in to a different toy more often and used fewer introducing behaviours than the adult mothers. Toddler age was also inversely related to mothers' redirecting behaviour. The results also indicated that the adolescent mothers demonstrated toys and interfered with their toddlers' ongoing play behaviour more frequently than the adult mothers. Toddler age was also inversely related to the frequency with which both groups of mothers demonstrated toys and positively related to the frequency with which mothers showed toys. The toddlers born to the adolescent mothers showed fewer social initiations and a higher frequency of non-verbal responses than the toddlers born to the adult mothers. Toddler age was negatively related to the frequency of non-verbal responses.