PEDIATRICS Vol. 85 No. 6 June 1990, pp. 1044-1050
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Association Between Parenthood and Problem Behavior in a National Sample of Adolescents

Arthur B. Elster MD1, Robert Ketterlinus PhD1, and Michael E. Lamb PhD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Section on Social Emotional Development, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

The association between problem behaviors and parental status was studied in a national sample of urban (n = 1263) and rural (n = 388) young women 15 to 17 years of age. When assessed according to age at childbearing, there was a clear association between problem behavior and the birth of a first child prior to age 19 years. The three parental status groups studied appeared ordered in risk, with school-aged mothers having engaged in the most problem behaviors, and followed, in turn, by young adult mothers (ie, those who had a child between 19 and 21 years of age), and then by women who had not had a child by age 21 years. Young urban women who engaged in three or more problem behaviors were more likely than women who claimed no involvement in problem behaviors to subsequently have a child prior to age 19 years. In addition, black adolescents reported fewer problem behaviors than did white adolescents. When individual behaviors were analyzed, school-aged mothers were more likely than either young adult mothers or nonmothers to have reported school suspension, truancy, runaway, smoking marijuana, and fighting. Although similar results were found in both samples, the effects appeared more consistent for young urban women. In future studies, researchers must determine whether adolescent mothers are at risk for parenting difficulties because of their previous involvement in problem behaviors.

Key Words: problem behavior • adolescent parenthood • school-aged mother

Submitted on May 1, 1989
Accepted on July 10, 1989




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