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 prevention: a review of interventions and programs.

Adolescent pregnancy is a significant social concern. Although rates of adolescent pregnancy have decreased in recent years, they are higher than in any other industrialized nation. Adolescent pregnancy increases the risk of negative consequences for mothers and their children. With little theory to guide practice, pregnancy prevention programs have had little success. The most effective programs have extended beyond reproductive health to include life options, such as education and job skills. Future research is needed to understand factors that predispose teens to early childbearing and to develop developmentally and culturally appropriate disincentives to pregnancy. Roles for psychologists are reviewed in program development, evaluation, and implementation.

Grandmother co-residence, parenting, and child development among low income, urban teen mothers.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationships among grandmother co-residence, parenting, and early child development among low income, urban families with teen mothers whose children vary in growth (adequate versus failure to thrive [FTT]). METHODS: Seventy-nine adolescent mothers of infants and toddlers (42 with adequate growth and 37 with FTT) recruited from a primary care clinic. Data collected during a laboratory evaluation included a videotaped session of mother and child during feeding, developmental assessment (Bayley Scales), and questionnaires on family support, perceived parenting stress, and maternal perception of child's temperament. ANALYSIS: Multivariate analyses of covariance. Independent variables were growth (adequate/FTT) and grandmother co-residence (present/absent). Dependent variables were maternal warmth during feeding, maternal perception of child's temperament, child's mealtime behavior, and child's cognitive and motor development. Covariates were child's age, maternal age, maternal education, parity, family support, and perceived stress. RESULTS: Teen mothers living with grandmothers were younger (mean age = 17.4 versus 18.6, p = .03) and had fewer children (mean parity = 1.2 versus 1.7, p = .001). Mothers displayed more warmth when not living with grandmothers (p = .01). Among adequately growing children, grandmother co-residence was associated with better motor skills (106 versus 98, p = .039). In contrast, among children with FTT, grandmother co-residence was associated with lower motor skills (90 versus 100, p = .017). CONCLUSIONS: Although multigenerational families may be protective for some teen parents and their young children, grandmother co-residence was not associated with maternal warmth. With the added stress of a poorly growing child, grandmother co-residence was associated with less optimal motor development.

The role of stress, social support, and family environment in adolescent mothers' parenting.

PIP: Adolescent childbearing is a major social and economic problem in the US. The authors assessed the role of stress, social support, and family environment upon adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors. 75 African-American, mother-infant pairs participated in the study. Each mother was administered a questionnaire and observed in a ten-minute teaching task with her baby. The study found that the adolescent mother's mother was the most frequent provider of support and the baby's father was the most frequent source of conflict. Mothers who identified more individuals as a source of conflict tended to have less positive parenting behaviors. Child age and interpersonal conflict were found through analysis to be significant predictors of maternal behavior. Furthermore, social support moderated the effects of interpersonal conflict when conflicted networks were large. Parenting stress was not a significant predictor of maternal behavior.^ieng

Relations among early adolescent temperament, parent and peer demands, and adjustment: a test of the goodness of fit model.

This study assessed whether the goodness of fit--between early adolescents temperaments and their parents and peers demands, or "ethnotheories", regarding temperament--was more related to adjustment than were acontextual measures of temperament alone. Data from the Pennsylvania Early Adolescent Transitions Study, a short-term longitudinal investigation of 153 adolescents from the beginning of sixth grade to the end of seventh grade, were used. Temperament was indexed by the nine attributes measured by the Revised Dimension of Temperament Survey, and the measures of demands regarding temperament were derived from different versions of this instrument. Adjustment was indexed by teacher ratings of academic and social competence and by parent ratings of problem behaviors. At the end of Grade 6 and the beginning of Grade 7, the number of significant relations between the adjustment measures and the fit scores tended to be greater than the number of significant relations between adjustment and temperament, measured alone. Moreover, groups formed on the basis of high vs. low temperament fit showed differential adjustment scores: adolescents in the low fit group in regard to both peer- and parent-demands received lower teacher ratings of scholastic competence, and higher parent ratings for conduct and school problems, than did the adolescents in the high fit group.