title: A comparison of the psychological resources of adolescents at low and high risk of mistreating their children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to compare the psychological resources of pregnant teenagers who are at low and high risk for mistreating their children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 71 participants in a comprehensive, adolescent-oriented maternity program. During the prenatal period, the Family Stress Checklist was used to quantify child abuse potential, with scores > or =25 defining high risk. Information about the social context of the pregnancy and maternal psychological resources was obtained with self-administered questionnaires. A composite psychological resource variable was computed by summing the z scores for intelligence, mental health, and mastery, with scores < or =0 defining the low-resource group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 71 teenagers, 26 (36.6%) were classified as high risk for child abuse and neglect. Compared with low-risk teens, high-risk teens had more behavioral problems, lower psychological resource scores (mean +/- SD of z score: -0.98 +/- 2.02 compared with 0.39 +/- 1.79; P =.004), and were more likely to have low psychological resources (69.2% compared with 44.4%; P =.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnant teenagers who are at risk for child abuse and neglect exhibit fewer psychological resources than their low-risk peers do, and may therefore benefit preferentially from intensive, in-home intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, The Children's Hospital, 1056 East 19th Street, Denver, CO 80208.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stevens-Simon
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barrett
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires