Interactions of Adolescent Mothers and Their 1-Year-Old Children

¹ From the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, and Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

It is unclear why the school-aged children of adolescent mothers have more cognitive and behavioral problems than those of adult mothers. To clarify why these children have problems and when during their lives they develop, the relationship between adolescent maternal age and the nature of the behavioral interaction between mothers and their children was studied in the laboratory. Thirty lower socioeconomic status mothers who were 15.5 years to 20 years of age and their 9- to 12-month-old children were videotaped for 20 minutes. Rating scales were developed to score the videotapes. There were significant correlations indicating that younger mothers tended to show less acceptance (r = .63; P < .001), less cooperation (r = .57; P < .001), less accessibility (r = .51; P < .003), less sensitivity (r = .46; P < .006), and more negative verbal communication (r = .32; P < .047) than older adolescent mothers. Younger maternal age was also associated with more overall negative interaction between mother and child (r = .35; P < .032) and with less child-initiated social contact with the mother (r = .32; P < .050). We conclude that over the relatively narrow age range younger adolescent maternal age is related to less favorable mothering behaviors in the laboratory when the children are 9 to 12 months of age.

Key Words: adolescent mothering • teenage parenting

Submitted on August 6, 1985
Accepted on January 29, 1986

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