title: Broken past, fragile future: personal stories of high-risk adolescent mothers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To uncover what adolescent mothers view as their childhood struggles, their transition to the role of motherhood following a childhood of abuse/neglect, and their important relationships after they became parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative, phenomenological.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-based parenting program for first-time mothers at risk for abusing or neglecting their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seven first-time mothers, ages 13 to 20, who reported they had been abused and/or neglected as children. All had healthy newborns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five themes emerged from the data: impoverished past, disintegration of relationships, emotional distance, problem fixing, and reconnecting. Participants described a process of using the experience of pregnancy and parenting as a mechanism for growth. Becoming a parent provided an opportunity to receive support from family members and to build more positive relationships. They viewed the experience as a second chance for a successful and fulfilling life.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Miami, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Vines
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States