This study compared cognitive readiness for parenting in 171 pregnant adolescents, 48 nonpregnant adolescents, and 38 pregnant adults. The relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and behavior were also assessed. Results indicated that adolescents were less cognitiveiy prepared, experienced more stress in the parenting role, and were less adaptive in their parenting style than adult mothers. Finally, relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and maternal interactional style were found. Additional analyses controlling for multiple demographic factors suggested that demographic variables played a role in explaining age-related differences in cognitive readiness as well as the-relations between readiness to parent and parenting behavior. Cognitive readiness, however, had unique and differential explanatory power in predicting parenting stress.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.