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pubmed:abstractText |
This study examined the interrelations among adolescent mothers' parenting attitudes, parenting confidence, and parenting stress and the potential differences in these dimensions by mothers' age, race and parity, and age and sex of child.
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pubmed:otherAbstract |
PIP: This study examined the interrelations among adolescent mothers' parenting attitudes, parenting confidence, and parenting stress and the potential differences in these dimensions by mothers' age, race, and parity, and age and sex of child. Subjects were 119 former adolescent mothers (mean age = 20.2 years) from predominantly poor, minority backgrounds (50% Hispanic, 27% African American, 17% non-Hispanic White). All subjects completed questionnaires about their parenting qualities twice an average of 10 weeks apart. All children were at least 1 year of age (mean age = 37.2 months; range 12-50 months). Subjects' parenting attitudes were assessed by the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory, a 32-item questionnaire. The Maternal Self-Report inventory was used to assess the mothers' self-esteem or their confidence in the mothering role. To assess the stress experienced with parenting, the Parenting Daily Hassles scale was used. Results indicated that for some mothers there exists a triple jeopardy of low parenting confidence, high parenting stress, and inappropriate parenting values. Mothers who reported feeling high parenting stress had low confidence in themselves as mothers, low empathy to their children's needs, and low acceptance of their children. Mothers who were older at the time of the study placed greater value on physical punishment and had less confidence in their caretaking abilities. Young maternal age at delivery and young maternal age at the time of this study were associated with low child acceptance. Non-Hispanic White mothers had significantly more favorable parenting values (greater empathy to child's needs and less value of physical punishment) than did African-American and Hispanic mothers, and African-American mothers reported significantly greater caretaking confidence than did Hispanic mothers. No parity or sex of child effects were found. These results suggest the presence of meaningful patterns of convergence and within-group variation for the psychological qualities of adolescent mothers' parenting.
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