Casey Smith
Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development Over the years teen pregnancies have seemed to increase higher, but girls of African American and Hispanic/ Latino ethnicities seem to have the highest pregnancy rate. Also African Americans and Hispanic/Latino have higher school dropout and economic disadvantages. Adolescent mothers also seem to have a higher risk of having depression or parental stress, rather then adult mothers. The mother’s depression can affect the child, and the child may be at risk of depression or development delays in life. If the mother seems to be having signs of depression they may not want a lot do with the child, and that could have a severe impact on the child. If the mother is depressed and doesn’t take care of their child properly, the child may have health problems or deal with substance abuse later in life. The purpose of this study was to see if parenting stress and social support impact child development especially in ethic minority populations. If the mothers parenting stress is high they will likely have negative parenting behaviors, which could impact the child and cause them to have depression. The child and mother then have an unhealthy attachment if she shows high levels of parenting stress. According to Spencer (2002) found that adolescent mothers continued to experience high levels of parenting stress 2 years after their infant was born. Since adolescent mothers seem to not be as financially stable, they struggle to take care of their infants compared to adult mothers. This economic burden makes adolescent mothers have high levels of parental stress and not want to take of their infant, which is crucial in the first years of life. Furthermore, it seems young mothers don’t have the social support that can help when raising an infant. Mothers that are raising a child in a household that has someone helping them and giving them positive reinforcement seem to have lower levels of parenting stress. Their mental health will be better and they have a higher chance of graduation high school, which will be better for the baby. A mother and baby having family and friend support are less likely to have depression later in life. Younger mothers though don’t have many friends, because it is not social acceptable to have a child at that age. As a result, mothers become depressed, because they don’t have the social support they need. According to Milan (2004) Research suggest ethic minority adolescent parents may experience even more adversities that their white peers. It is also shown African American or Hispanic/Latinos are the ones having children at a younger age. They also seem to have economic disadvantages, high levels of depression, and lower grades in school. Ethic minority young mothers also seem to have lower social support, which can cause depression. Also a father figure may not be involved, which is harder for the mother. Not having that social support can cause the mother to feel hopeless and not want to take care of her child. The child may have emotional and mental problems later in life if their father chooses not to be in their life. In this study there was 180 African American and Latino/Hispanic adolescent mothers in northeast urban areas. The group was chosen based on age, race/ethnicity, school status, and where they lived from the Women, Infant and Children Office. All girls were under the age of 18 and attending a public school. The test was conducted when the infant was 6 months (wave 1), 1 year (wave 2), and 18 months (wave 3). Interviews where done with parent consent and either completed in their home or school. Parenting stress was reported on a Likert Scale from one to five, five being the highest stress level. The parent stress scores from wave 1 were the only ones used for the study. The multidemsional scale of perceived social support was used for perceived social support. It measured support from family, friends, and a significant other. A scale from one to seven was used and scored from only wave 1 was used for it. For child development the Brigance Screens were used for the study. Wave 1 was used for the control variable and wave 3 for the outcome. Maternal Depression used the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Survey, using a one to four scale. Wave 1 for this was also a control variable and wave 2 was the mediator. The results for this study vary in many ways. It shows that maternal depression when the infant was 6 months was high, due to little social support and high levels of parenting stress. If a mother had high levels of parenting stress at wave 1, wave 2 showed ethnic minority adolescent mothers having high levels of depression. This study also showed that ethnic minority adolescent mothers had a higher chance of having depression compared to their white peers. If parenting stress was high and maternal depression was low though, it didn’t show much impact on the infant. Furthermore, if maternal depression levels were high it showed negative outcomes for the infant. Ethnic minority mothers usually live in a home with extended family, due to their culture. Having a support system that is more then their parents has shown a positive outcome for them and their children. This study is important, because most people have the luxury of obviousness to these things. They don’t realize the stress and economic disadvantages young mothers have, especially those of different ethnic backgrounds. This study should have used all waves for the categories they tested instead of just some, it would have been clearer if they did this. This relates to HDF because we talk about child development and how the child has to have a good attachment to their mother in order to develop properly. If a child doesn’t have a bond with their mother at an early age, they are more likely to have development problems. In conclusion, ethnic minority adolescent mothers with little social support and high levels of parenting stress show to have maternal depression. These young mothers that have depression do not want much to do with their infant. The infant may have development issues later in life. Social support plays a big role in the mother and infants life, if the mother does not have the support she needs, her maternal depression levels are high. Having a good support system and trying to maintain stress for adolescent mothers is the best outcome for them and their child.
References: Cindy Huang, Jessica Costeines, Joy Kaufman, and Carmen Ayala (2013). Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development. J Child Fam Stud (2014) 23:255–262