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Parenting in Adolescence
Negative stereotypes do little to explain the variability in experience among adolescent mothers. This brief entry introduces the areas of potential concern, discusses the developmental significance of teen pregnancy, and tracks recent demographic trends. Moving on to an examination of both risk and protective factors in the lives of young women provides a meaningful way to conceptualize the issues faced by early adoption of the mothering role. Suggestions for policymakers and future researchers lie embedded within these potential perils and protective factors.
Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing are topics of national concern because they can have long-lasting negative consequences for young parents and their children. Young women who begin their child-bearing as adolescents are often unprepared for the tasks of parenting, have relatively high rates of depression, are less likely to complete high school, and are more likely to require public assistance compared with women who do not begin childbearing until adulthood. In addition, children of adolescent parents have an increased risk of being maltreated, experiencing behavioral and developmental problems, and repeating the pattern of adolescent parenthood (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998). Although adolescent birth is often conceptualized in the context of risk behaviors, in some low-income, minority communities, particularly those with few educational and employment opportunities, adolescent parenthood is part of the normative life course and not necessarily part of a risk profile (Dalla & Gamble, 2000).
Incidence
Over the past decade, there has been a marked decline in the adolescent birthrate throughout the United States. Although the decline has occurred among all racial and ethnic groups, African American adolescents have experienced a greater decline (26%) compared with Caucasian (19%) and Hispanic (12%) adolescents. However, the birthrate among African American adolescents remains 2.5 times the rate of Caucasian adolescents. Notwithstanding the overall decline, in the year 2000, more than 470,000 adolescent young women gave birth. Adolescent parenting occurs disproportionately among low-income families, and approximately 70% of adolescent mothers are unmarried. The lack of either financial resources or stable environments that tend to accompany adolescent parenting, essentially the trauma of poverty, may contribute to the developmental and behavioral problems often experienced by both adolescent mothers and their children (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998).
Risk and Protective Factors
The requirements of parenthood are often incompatible with the developmental tasks of adolescence. Competent parenting requires patience, empathy, and an ability to accept delayed gratification. Adolescents, who are striving for their own identities, may focus on themselves rather than on the needs of their babies. Social support has the potential to enhance adolescent parenting, particularly when adolescents are young, immature, and need assistance.
Community-level protective factors include connections to friends and institutions that promote positive parenting. In other words, friends who value education and avoid delinquent behavior provide positive role models. At the family level, protection includes parents who provide support that is accepting and nurturing, while enabling adolescent mothers to achieve autonomy and independence in their new roles. The individual mother's personal history of cognitive and emotional preparation, her own psychological well-being, her competence in interpersonal skills, and her academic successes will affect her successful role transition. Finally, mothers who regard the infant's temperament to be relatively easy and adaptable may find parenting more rewarding than mothers who regard the baby as difficult.
...
- Adolescent Development
- Abstinence in Adolescence
- Adolescence and Thriving
- Adolescence, Current Trends and Research About
- Adolescent Females, Physical Activity
- Adolescent Parents, Programs and Policies for
- Adolescent Pregnancy and Births
- Adolescent Sexuality
- Adolescents, at Risk
- Adolescents, Consent and Refusal of Treatment
- Alcohol Use and Disorders Among Youth
- Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use, Media Education for Adolescents
- Asthma in Adolescence
- Athletic Participation and Girls' Development
- Cancer Patients, Adolescent Consent to Research
- Cigarette Smoking in Adolescents
- Dating in Adolescence
- Decision Making Among Adolescents
- Delinquency
- Depression in Adolescence
- Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Adolescents
- Gender Intensification
- HIV Prevention in Young Adults
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth, Sexual Development
- Menarche
- Parenting in Adolescence
- Positive Youth Development, Service-Learning Versus Community Collaborative Models
- Puberty
- Religiosity and Resilience in Adolescence
- Resiliency in Adolescence
- Sexuality, Adolescents' Development of
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Social Support, Urban Adolescents
- Stimulants, Adolescent Use of
- Youth Civic/Political Development
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Youth Mentoring
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- ADS Training and Education
- Education and Applied Developmental Science
- Planning and Evaluation Resource Center (PERC)
- Positive Development
- Training in Applied Developmental Science
- Yale University, Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy
- Youth Development as a Public Idea
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Adult Development
- Adult Development, Definition, Culture, and Applications
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults
- Chronic Disability in Old Age
- Depression in Later Life
- Depression, Maternal
- Family Caregiving for Elders
- Marriage and Family Therapy
- Mental Health in Later Life, Ecology of
- Mental Retardation, Sociocontextual Influences in Adulthood
- Old Age
- Psychoanalysis in Adults, Theory and Technique
- Sensory Impairment, Aging
- Social Support in Old Age
- Special Education, Transition From School to Young Adulthood
- Spiritual and Religious Coping in Later Life
- Transition in Adulthood
- Transition to College
- Vision Impairment, Late Life Adjustment and Rehabilitation
- Biographies of Applied Developmental Scientists
- Ames, Louise Bates
- Anastasi, Anne
- Benson, Peter L.
- Blum, Robert W.
- Bornstein, Marc H.
- Bronfenbrenner, Urie
- Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
- Côté, James E.
- Cauce, Ana Mari
- Ceci, Stephen J.
- Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay
- Damon, William
- Eccles, Jacquelynne, and the Expectancy-Value Model of Achievement Choice
- Eisenberg, Nancy
- Elkind, David
- Farrington, David P.
- Fisher, Celia B.
- Flanagan, Constance A.
- Floyd, Donald T., Jr.
- Freud, Anna
- Freud, Sigmund
- Gardner, Howard
- Gesell, Arnold Lucius
- Hagen, John William
- Hall, G. Stanley
- Helms, Janet E.
- Horowitz, Frances Degen
- Jacobs, Francine
- Khoo, Kim Choo
- Lamb, Michael
- Lerner, Jacqueline V.
- Lerner, Richard M.
- Lipsitt, Lewis P.
- Little, Rick R.
- Meisels, Samuel J.
- Montessori, Maria
- Moore, Kristin
- Mussen, Paul H.
- Osofsky, Joy Doniger
- Overton, Willis F.
- Petersen, Anne C.
- Phinney, Jean S.
- Piaget, Jean
- Pittman, Karen J.
- Rhodes, Jean
- Savin-Williams, Ritch C.
- Seligman, Martin E. P.
- Sherrod, Lonnie R.
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Smyer, Michael A.
- Spanier, Graham B.
- Terman, Lewis M.
- Watson, John B.
- Weinberg, Richard A.
- Wertlieb, Donald
- Wheeler, Wendy
- Windle, Michael
- Youniss, James
- Child Development
- Advertising, Effects on Children
- Alcoholism Prevention Programs for Children
- Anxiety Disorders in Children
- Bipolar Disorder in Children
- Cancer, Psychosocial Dimensions of
- Child Abuse, Religion-Related
- Child Care Centers, an International Perspective
- Child Care, Infant and Toddler
- Child Development Across Cultures
- Child Labor
- Children's Reading Comprehension
- Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Early Childhood
- Day Care, Effects on Child Development
- Day Care, Measuring Quality of Care
- Domestic Violence, Child Exposure to
- Early Childhood Care, Development, and Education in Asia
- Early Childhood Education in Turkey
- Feeding Disorders, Childhood
- Giftedness in African American Children
- Incarcerated Mothers, Children of
- Mastery Motivation, Preschool and Early Childhood
- Media and Children's Fears
- Obesity, Pediatric
- Obesity, Prevention in Childhood
- Pediatric Psychology
- Peer Play in Early Childhood
- Perceptual Development, Childhood
- Play, Nonsocial, and Social-Emotional Development in Childhood
- Prejudice in Childhood
- Psychotropic Medications
- Siblinghood, Transitions to
- Sports and Positive Youth Development
- Sports/Athletics, Children and
- Street Children
- Television, Children's Processing of
- Toddlerhood
- Visual Impairment Across the Life Span
- Women, Infants, and Children, Special Supplemental Food Program for
- Civic Engagement
- Advocacy, Child
- Civic Engagement
- Community Involvement
- Just-World Beliefs, Development of
- Mentoring
- Political Engagement
- Positive Youth Development, Service-Learning Versus Community-Collaborative Models
- Public Policy and Human Development
- Service Learning
- Youth Civic/Political Development
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- Culture and Diversity
- Asian Americans, a Term in Transition
- Acculturation
- Acculturation Stress
- Achievement in Mathematics, Gender and Ethnic Differences
- African American Youth Development, Cultural Influences
- African Culture, Human Ontogenesis Within
- African Family Traditions, Education and
- Asian American Families and Youth
- Assessment, Cultural Validity of
- Bilingualism, International
- Child Care Centers, an International Perspective
- Child Development Across Cultures
- Community-Based Research Ethics
- Culture and Health
- Culture and Human Development
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Early Childhood Care, Development, and Education in Asia
- Early Childhood Education in Turkey
- Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Research
- Ethnic Gloss
- Ethnic Identity
- Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Adolescents
- Ethnicity and Race, Understanding of
- Ethnography
- Immigrant Families, European
- Immigrants, Acculturation of
- Juvenile Justice, Racial Differences
- Native Alaskan Tribes
- Parenting, Chinese Families and
- Refugees
- Religion and Applied Developmental Science
- Street Children
- Youth Culture, Hip-hop
- Development-Promoting Interventions
- Adolescent Parents, Programs and Policies for
- Alcoholism Prevention Programs for Children
- Infants, Intervention for Premature
- Intervention Programs, Web-Based
- Mediated Learning Experience
- Social Skills Training and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)
- Supervision
- Thinking, Education for
- Transfer of Knowledge, Child Education About the Real World
- Women, Infants, and Children, Special Supplemental Food Program for
- Youth Mentoring
- Developmental Assessment
- Developmental Disorders
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Anxiety Disorders in Children
- Autism, Educational Treatments for
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder in Children
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Celiac Disease
- Clinical Significance
- Conduct Disorders
- Depression in Adolescence
- Developmental Disabilities
- Externalizing Behavior Problems
- Feeding Disorders, Childhood
- Gastrointestinal Disorders, Developmental Aspects of
- Mental Illness, Serotonin, and Genetics
- Mental Retardation
- Phobias, Childhood
- Postpartum Depression
- Developmental Processes
- Adaptation
- Adaptive Behavior
- Adolescence and Thriving
- Body Size and Image, Female Attitudes and Perceptions About
- Body Size, Societal Views of
- Career Development
- Children's Reading Comprehension
- Cognitive Development
- Cognitive Skills and Aging
- Cortisol and Stress
- Critical-Period Hypothesis
- Decision Making Among Adolescents
- Developmental Assets
- Egocentrism, Elkind's Contribution to Piagetian Theory
- Ethnicity and Race, Understanding of
- Gender Intensification
- Genetics and Human Development
- Giftedness in African American Children
- Human Brain, Evolution of
- Identity
- Identity Development in Biracial Children
- Identity Statuses
- Identity, Capital Model of
- Infant Reflexes
- Language Production in Infants and Toddlers
- Learning in the Life Cycle
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth, Sexual Development
- Limbic System, Hedonic Escalation
- Mastery Motivation, Preschool and Early Childhood
- Mediated Learning Experience
- Meiosis and Its Consequences
- Memory, Flashbulb
- Menarche
- Metacognition
- Morality, Theories of Development
- Play, Childhood
- Positive Development
- Problem Solving
- Prosocial Behavior
- Puberty
- Resiliency in Adolescence
- Self-Concept
- Self-Concepts and Self-Esteem, Children and Adolescents
- Self-Regulation
- Separation-Individuation, Margaret Mahler's Model
- Social Motivation
- Special Education, Transition From School to Young Adulthood
- Testimony, Children's Competence for
- Transition to College
- Developmental Risks
- Alcohol Use and Disorders Among Youth
- Child Abuse, Religion-Related
- Child labor
- Cigarette Smoking in Adolescents
- Cocaine
- Delinquency
- Diabetes
- Divorce, Its Impact on Children
- Domestic Violence, Child Exposure to
- Domestic Violence, Impact on Women and Children
- Homelessness and Runaway Youth
- Incarcerated Mothers, Children of
- Learned Helplessness and Learned Optimism
- Malnutrition, Effects of
- Obesity
- Risk Behaviors
- Sensory Impairment, Vision and Hearing
- Siblinghood, Transitions to
- Stimulants, Adolescent Use of
- Substance Use and Abuse Across the Life Span
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- Traumatic Brain Injury, School Adjustment
- Violence, Effects on Development
- Youth Prostitution
- Ecology of Human Development
- Advertising, Effects on Children
- Body Types, Appraisals of
- Bullying, School
- Career Choice
- Community
- Community Linkages, Levels of
- Community Schools and Applied Developmental Research
- Community Youth Development
- Developmental Contextualism
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Developmentally Attentive Communities
- Education, Urban
- Families, Dual-Career
- Interactive Media, Effects of
- Internet
- Maternal Employment
- Media and Children's Fears
- Media Use, Reading, and Academic Achievement
- Media Violence
- Mental Retardation, Sociocontextual Influences in Adulthood
- Occupations and Gender
- Peer Play in Early Childhood
- Peer Relationships
- Refugees
- School Counseling
- School Refusal
- School Transitions, Impact, Intervention, and Policy
- Schools and School Reform
- Schools, Consultation to
- Social Capital
- Social Change and Human Development
- Social Exclusion
- Social Support
- Social Support in Old Age
- Social Support, Urban Adolescents
- Sports, High School
- Television, Educational and Prosocial Effects of
- Video Games
- Youth Culture, Hip-hop
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- Emotional and Social Development
- Ethics
- Families
- Adoption
- African Family Traditions, Education and
- Divorce, Its Impact on Children
- Families, Dual-Career
- Families, Immigrant Families in the United States
- Families, Multigenerational
- Family Caregiving for Elders
- Family Policy
- Family Systems Theory
- Immigrant Families, European
- Immigrants, Experiences of
- Latino Families in America
- Native American Children and Families
- Television, Mediating Effects of Family Communication
- Foundations
- Health
- Abstinence in Adolescence
- Adolescent Pregnancy and Births
- Asthma in Adolescence
- Cancer Patients, Adolescent Consent to Research
- Cancer, Psychosocial Dimensions of
- Celiac Disease
- Cortisol and Stress
- Culture and Health
- Diabetes
- Frontal Cortex
- HIV Prevention in Young Adults
- HIV Prevention With Injecting Drug Users
- Obesity, Pediatric
- Obesity, Prevention in Childhood
- Psychotropic Medications
- Religiosity and Mental Health
- Sensory Impairment, Aging
- Vision Impairment, Late Life Adjustment and Rehabilitation
- Visual Impairment Across the Life Span
- Youth Development as a Public Idea
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Historical Influences
- Infant Development
- Organizations
- American Psychological Association, Division 7 (Developmental Psychology)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center
- Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
- Center for Social Development, Applied Developmental Science at
- Center for the Study of Human Development (CSHD), Brown University
- Center for Youth as Resources (CYAR), Headquarters for the Youth as Resources® (YAR)
- Child and Family Research, National Institute of Child Heath and Human Development
- Child Trends
- Community-Campus Partnerships and Community-Based Program Evaluation
- Erikson Institute
- Faith-Based Organizations
- Four-H (4-H)
- Head Start
- ImagineNations Group
- Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development
- Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
- International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development
- Murray, Henry A., Research Center
- National Council on Family Relations
- Public Policy and Youth Development
- Search Institute
- Society for Research on Adolescence
- Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues
- Society for the Study of Human Development
- Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53, American Psychological Association
- UNICEF
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- World Health Organization
- YouthBuild USA
- Parenting
- Adolescent Mothers
- Adolescent-Parent Relations
- Attachment, Child-Parent
- Bonding, Parent-Child
- Discipline, Early Childhood
- Families, Multigenerational
- Father Involvement
- Foster Care
- Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Community Attitudes Toward
- Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Legal Aspects of
- Parent Advocacy
- Parent Education
- Parent Expectations
- Parent Involvement, Programs in
- Parental Involvement in Education
- Parental Self-Efficacy
- Parenting in Adolescence
- Parenting, Chinese Families and
- Parenting, Divorce and
- Parenting, Native Americans and
- Parenting, Prejudice and
- Parenting, Single Mothers
- Parenting, Stressful Environments and
- Television, Mediating Effects of Family Communication
- Personality Development
- Religiosity and Spirituality
- Research Methodology
- Adolescence, Current Trends and Research About
- Assessment, Cultural Validity of
- Asset Mapping
- Brain Mapping
- Change, Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of
- Community-Based Research Ethics
- Day Care, Measuring Quality of Care
- Delinquent Development, the Cambridge Study
- Field Experimentation Research
- Forensic Interviewing
- Policy-Relevant Methods in Applied Developmental Science
- Program Evaluation
- Research Design, Developmental
- Research Methods, Quantitative
- Research Methods, Statistical Analysis for Longitudinal Research
- Schools
- Social Issues
- Adolescent Mothers
- AIDS, Women, and Poverty
- Computer Games
- Family Policy
- Juvenile Justice, Racial Differences
- Media and Developmental Science
- Parenting, Single Mothers
- Participant Advocate, Research Involving Children
- Prejudice in Childhood
- Racism
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Socioeconomic Status
- Welfare Reform
- Work and Family Life
- Theory
- “Goodness of Fit” and Development
- Applied Developmental Science, Concepts of
- Behavior Theory
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Developmental Systems Theories
- Eccles, Jacquelynne, and the Expectancy-Value Model of Achievement Choice
- Empowerment Theory and Youth
- Erickson's Theory
- Family Systems Theory
- Identity, Helm's Theory of Racial
- Life Events
- Life Expectancy and the Life Span
- Overton, Willis F., Philosophical Foundations of Developmental Science
- Pediatric Psychology
- Perceptual Development, Childhood
- Philosophy of Science and Applied Developmental Science
- Positive Psychology
- Positive Psychology, Seligman's Concept of
- Positive Youth Development, a Developmental Systems View
- Problem Behavior Theory
- Psychoanalysis in Adults, Theory and Technique
- Recapitulation
- Sport Psychology
- Stage Theories of Human Development
- Stage-Environment Fit Theory
- Television, Children's Processing of
- Universities
- Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center
- Catholic University of America
- Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
- Center for the Study of Human Development (CSHD), Brown University
- Fordham University
- Fuller Theological Seminary
- Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
- Institute of Child Development
- Michigan State University, Applied Developmental Science at
- Northwestern University, Human Development and Social Policy Program
- Tufts University, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development
- University of Michigan
- University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Yale University, Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy
- Youth Programs
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