The social context of teenage childbearing: Effects on the infant's care-giving environment

The effects of maternal age and the social context on the home environment, and maternal behaviors of adolescent and older mothers, as well as the stability of the care-giving environment, were studied. Fifty low-middle socioeconomic status (SES), primiparous, Caucasian mothers and their fullterm healthy infants were included. At four months, support systems and life stress were assessed, as well as the home environment and maternal behaviors. At two years, a similar home visit was conducted in a subsample. Adolescent mothers had less education, lower SES, and a different child care support system. They also differed in the home environment and maternal behaviors at four months. Some of these differences disappeared when maternal education and SES, or child care support and life stress, were controlled. Moderate correlations were observed between four months and two years home environment and maternal verbalizations. Thus, a combination of maternal age and other social factors mediate the negative characteristics of the adolescent mother's care-giving environment, which is relatively stable during the infancy period.Received Ph. D. from Harvard University. Main research interests are sociocultural aspects of development, teenage pregnancy, and infant temperament.Received Ph. D. from University of California, Los Angeles. Main research interests are determinants of neonatal and infant development and statistical systems.Received Ph. D. from Brown University. Main research interests are mother-child interaction, and language acquisition in the hearing impaired.Received M. D. from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. Main research interests are both animal and human studies during the perinatal period.