Citation

Dukewich TL, Borkowski JG, Whitman TL. Child Abuse Negl. 1996; 20(11): 1031-1047.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8958454

Abstract

This research examines maternal and child factors that place adolescent mothers at risk for abusing their children. Using a longitudinal design, relationships among four risk factors (social supports, maternal psychological adjustment, maternal preparation for parenting, and child temperament), maternal psychological predisposition for aggressive coping (perceptions of stress and endorsements of punitive parenting), and maternal abuse potential were examined in a sample of 75 primiparous adolescent mothers and their children. Preparation for parenting, a construct which included knowledge and attitudes about children's development, was the strongest direct predictor of abuse potential; however, its effects were also partially mediated by the mother's psychological predisposition for aggressive coping. Similarly, the effects of child temperament on abuse were mediated by the mother's psychological predisposition for aggressive coping. Implications for designing intervention programs, and identifying at-risk adolescents, were also discussed.The capability of four contextual risk factors (social support, maternal psychological adjustment, maternal preparation for parenting, and child temperament) as well as maternal predisposition for aggression (stress perception and endorsement of punitive parenting) to predict child abuse potential in adolescent mothers was investigated in 75 mother-child dyads. These pairs were drawn from a larger, longitudinal study on adolescent parenting conducted in Indiana and South Carolina (US). Mothers averaged 17.3 years of age at delivery and were predominantly (64%) African-American. Data were collected prenatally, at 6 months, and at 12 months. Compared to the general teen population, mothers showed above-average levels of financial stress and internalizing psychological problems (e.g., depression); they were uncertain about their roles as parents and rated their infants as difficult. A higher score on the risk composite was significantly (p 0.01) associated with a higher score on the abuse potential index. Also significant (p 0.001) was an association between the risk composite and a predisposition for aggressive coping. However, separate analyses revealed that the four risk factors were not equally effective in predicting child abuse potential. Abuse potential was significantly related only to parenting preparation (p 0.001). Endorsement of punitive parenting was an influential mediator of the relationships between risk factors. These findings suggest a need for interventions aimed at educating teens about child development and realistic expectations, expanding their repertoire of parenting skills, and teaching them to control aggression.

Language: en