Citation

Trad PV. Adolescence 1993; 28(112): 757-780.

Affiliation

Child and Adolescent Outpatient Department, Cornell University Medical Center, Westchester Division, White Plains, New York 10605.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Libra Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8266833

Abstract

The relationship between the adolescent mother and her infant is complicated by the fact that both face the same developmental challenge--assertion of autonomy. If the adolescent's own mother cannot tolerate her daughter's moves toward individuation and autonomy and provides inadequate modeling of nurturing behavior, the infant is at risk of being abused. A prospective approach focused on the adolescent's past and current relationship with her mother, combined with her capacity to envision how future developmental gains will impact on her evolving relationship with her infant, can be used by psychotherapists to predict the quality of the mother-infant relationship. If the adolescent has had an abusive or conflicted relationship with her own mother, she may repeat this pattern and introduce conflict into her relationship with her child. Also germane are the adolescent's motivations for becoming pregnant; those who view motherhood as a means of breaking away from their own mother's control or of achieving intimacy may fail to promote their infant's adaptive maturation. Here-and-now factors that should be assessed by the therapist include the mother's proficiency in reading her infant's cues, the nature of the infant's attachment to the mother (insecure, ambivalent, or secure), the fit between the infant's temperament (difficult, easy, or slow to warm up) and the mother's, and the extent to which her expectations of her infant's abilities are age-appropriate. Orienting the adolescent mother toward the future involves instilling the ability to plan and motivation to seek further interaction. For example, the therapist can teach adolescent mothers previewing techniques, in which the mother deduces from intuition and education about child development that her infant is on the verge of acquiring a new skill, devises interactional exercises aimed at rehearsing this skill, and, in the process, enhances the intimacy and permission for autonomy in the dyadic relationship.

Language: en