Determinants of maternal child-rearing attitudes.
This study investigated the correlates of negative attitudes toward child-rearing among low-income urban black and Hispanic mothers. Using a randomized block procedure, 144 adolescents and 139 adults giving birth to healthy infants at a large metropolitan hospital were recruited. All consenting women were interviewed in the hospital within 2 days after delivery, using standardized measures of child-rearing attitudes, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, social support, and cognitive ability. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that depressive symptoms, cognitive ability, and two demographic characteristics (maternal age and spoken language) accounted for 42.4% of the variance in negative childrearing attitudes during the postpartum period. The contributions of social support and self-esteem were no longer significant when the effects of the other psychosocial factors were taken into consideration simultaneously. The utility of early assessment of maternal attitudes as a marker for maternal risk status is addressed. The adaptive function of maternal attitudes and the implications for child-rearing practices are discussed in relation to the process of acculturation.
Rauh
V A
VA
Center for Population and Family Health, Columbia University, School of Public Health.
Wasserman
G A
GA
Brunelli
S A
SA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010556:Personality Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors