Teenagers and the mothering experience.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between maternal age, perceived social support, and home environment to mother-child interaction.


METHODS
Thirty-three adolescent mother-child pairs and 33 older mother-child pairs were randomly selected from a pool of 63 adolescent mothers and 111 older mothers. The Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NCAFS), the Personal Resource Questionnaire (PRQ), and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) were completed during a scheduled home visit. One way ANOVA and Multiple Correlation were used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
Mother's sensitivity to cues and social-emotional growth-fostering from the NCAFS favored older mothers. Avoidance of restriction and punishment from the HOME favored older mothers. There was a significant relationship between perceived social support and mother-child interaction for both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal behavior was related to mother's age. A mother's perception of the adequacy of her social support resources may be a critical factor in how she interacts with her child.
vonWindeguth
B J
BJ
Urbano
R C
RC
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support