Adolescent Mothers and Their Infants

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Abstract
It is unclear why children of adolescent mothers experience more developmental problems than children of adult mothers. There has been minimal systematic investigation of whether there is a relationship between the young age of the mother and her mothering behaviors. The data fail to demonstrate any relationship between adolescent maternal age and the counts of maternal behaviors 3 days following birth. Normal primiparous mothers (75) less than 20 yr old were videotaped with their normal infants for 10 minutes in a standardized laboratory setting during the 3 days following birth. The frequency of maternal behaviors was counted from the videotapes by trained observers. Future studies of primiparous adolescent mothers should consider the effects of maternal race/culture and socioeconomic status on their mothering behaviors. The relationship between adolescent maternal age and the vocalizations expressed by the mother to her infant should also be explored further.

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