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The determinants of parenting competence in adolescent mothers

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Abstract

This study examines whether models of parenting competence derived from studies of adult mothers are descriptive of adolescent mothers as well. Fifty-eight adolescent mothers were recruited from an alternative high school. All subjects completed questionnaires on self-esteem, life events, social support, well-being, and maternal efficacy. In addition, they completed an emotion interpretation task, and were videotaped in feeding, structured play, and unstructured play episodes with their child. Associations among the variables life stress, social support, well-being, self-esteem, maternal efficacy, and the capacity to interpret infant emotion were examined. The utility of these variables as predictors of maternal behavior was also examined. Age-related individual differences among adolescent mothers were also explored, as were differences across interaction episodes. Results indicated that determinants of parenting competence among adolescents are patterned differently than would be predicted by existing models of adult parenting competence. For example, adolescents who received more support from the baby's father displayed less optimal parenting behavior. Results are discussed in the context of adolescent development and in terms of their utility for intervention design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Janet R. Shapiro (Assistant Professor of Social Work)

  2. University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana, USA

    Sarah C. Mangelsdorf (Assistant Professor of Psychology)

Authors
  1. Janet R. Shapiro
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  2. Sarah C. Mangelsdorf
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Additional information

Received degree from University of Michigan. Her research interests include adolescent mothers and their adaptation to parenthood; specifically, she is interested in the individual and social contextual determinants of this adaption, and the factors which either inhibit or facilitate parenting competence in adolescents.

Received degree from University of Minnesota. Her research interests include social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood; specifically, she is interested in infant-care-giver relationships and the factors associated with individual differences in relationship quality.

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Shapiro, J.R., Mangelsdorf, S.C. The determinants of parenting competence in adolescent mothers. J Youth Adolescence 23, 621–641 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537633

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