title: Adolescent mothers' perceptions of new born infants and the mothers' use of coping behaviors: a descriptive study.
abstract: A convenience sample of seventeen primagravidas aged fourteen to eighteen years was studied to determine participants' perceptions of the newborn as well as their use of coping behaviors. A test-retest design was used. Subjects completed the Neonatal Perception Inventory I (NPI I) and Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (A-COPE) at one to three days postpartum, and the Neonatal Perception Inventory II (NPI II) and Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences were administered one month post delivery. The Sign Test revealed no significant differences between NPI I and NPI II scores. However, the Sign Test showed a significant difference in the coping behaviors used by subjects which required them to engage in demanding activities, such as working harder at school work, at the one-month postpartum retest (p = .002). Pearson's correlation showed no association between teenaged primagravidas' perceptions of the newborn and their use of coping behaviors.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012718:Set, Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires