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This study assessed the existence and nature of parenting stress among 187 adolescent mothers over a period of two and one half years across their eldest child's preschool years. Although the majority of mothers did not report elevated levels of stress, approximately thirty percent of the sample reported clinically high levels of stress at any one of the six measurement points. Criticism from a parent regarding their childrearing and intimate partner violence were both found to be related to perceptions of parenting stress. Implications for practice, including the use of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) as a clinical screening tool, are noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the associations among multigenerational coresidence, intrafamilial conflict over childrearing, and parenting stress in 190 young adolescent mothers at 6, 12, and 24 months postpartum. Analyses assessed the association between coresidence and conflict on parenting stress in 2 ways. To investigate associations between coresidence and conflict at specific points postpartum, 3 cross-sectional analyses were conducted. To assess the association between postpartum duration of coresidence and conflict, we predicted parenting stress at 24 months from the duration of coresidence and conflict across the 3 time points. While the coefficients in the cross-sectional models for coresidence and conflict increased from 6 to 24 months, the change was not significant over time holding all other variables constant. The interaction of coresidence by conflict was not associated with parenting stress at any time point. Additionally, duration of coresidence was not associated with parenting stress at 24 months. However, in contrast, sustained conflict over time was associated with higher levels of parenting stress at 24 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we analyzed individual developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior problems between ages 3.5 to 6.0 years for 183 children of adolescent mothers. We examined how the level of problem behavior (intercept) and the rate of change over time (slope) are influenced by child's sex, mother's depression/anxiety symptoms, and mother's use of negative control for regulating child behavior. On average, disruptive behavior decreased from age 3.5 to 6.0. Child sex and maternal depression/anxiety related to the level of behavior problems but not to the rate of change. Boys and children of more depressed/anxious mothers exhibited higher levels of disruptive behavior. Maternal negative control was associated with both level of disruptive behavior and rate of change, and negative control mediated the effects of maternal depression/anxiety. Greater negative control corresponded to higher levels of behavior problems and no reduction in their display over time. Child race moderated effects of negative control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive and behavioral status at age six years of 185 children of adolescent mothers (60.5% boys) were assessed using the mother (CBCL) and teacher (TRF) report forms of the Child Behavior Checklist and the Bracken Basic Concepts Scale. There was evidence for impairment in all areas of functioning. More than half of the sample exceeded the borderline clinical cutoff (T = 60) on either the CBCL or TRF Total Problem score, and nearly half the sample had Bracken scores that were more than 1 SD below the normative mean. Only 26.9% of the children were in the normal range on all three measures. These results are discussed in terms of implications for social work practice with children and adolescent mother families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding problem behavior among adolescent mothers is critical, as their behaviors affect not only their own lives but the lives of their children. Using confirmatory factor analysis with an ethnically diverse sample of 233 pregnant adolescents, we test a hypothesis derived from problem behavior theory that diverse problem behaviors are manifestations of a single underlying construct. Three measurement models of problem behaviors are compared: a single factor model, a four factor model, and a second order factor model in which a single higher order factor is posited to account for the covariation among the four factors. The results show support for the higher order factor model, suggesting a constellation of related problem behaviors in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]