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Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 October 2013

Abstract

Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers’ parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (6 months after birth), and its impact on infant development 1 year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants 1 year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was made possible by Grant Number APH PA 006041 from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Support for Dr. Huang was provided by a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded Postdoctoral Training Program (T32 DA019426). The statements and opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Cindy Y. Huang, Jessica Costeines & Joy S. Kaufman

  2. Bridgeport Public Schools, Bridgeport, CT, USA

    Carmen Ayala

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  1. Cindy Y. Huang
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  2. Jessica Costeines
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  3. Joy S. Kaufman
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  4. Carmen Ayala
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Correspondence to Cindy Y. Huang.

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Huang, C.Y., Costeines, J., Kaufman, J.S. et al. Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development. J Child Fam Stud 23, 255–262 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9807-1

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