Family and community support of urban pregnant students: Support person, function, and parity

Abstract

Family and community support resources available to 200 primiparous and 44 multiparous pregnant students were examined. All pregnant students included in the study were unmarried, African American, and enrolled in urban public high schools of a large midwestern city from 1986 to 1989. Results showed that (a) support persons in the family system were mentioned more frequently than those in the community system in all support functions and by all pregnant students; (b) at least two thirds of all available support involved the baby's father and the student's mother, but their support functions differed; and (c) parity tended to be related to the interplay between the support person and the support function. Health professionals must identify appropriate support persons for the pregnant student and include them in the care process.

“Sometimes You Don't Feel Ready to Be an Adult or a Mom:” The Experience of Adolescent Pregnancy

“…Through its stress-buffering and direct effects, social support is believed to exert a mediating influence on psychological well-being and maternal behaviors that may beneficially affect the developing mother-child relationship (Barrera, 1981;Dunst, Vance, & Cooper, 1986;Thompson & Peebles-Wilkins, 1992). Research findings suggest that adolescent mothers' perceive support from their mothers as having an important impact on their parenting (Burke & Liston, 1994;Chen, Telleen, & Chen, 1995) and on their experiences of depression (Barnet, Joffe, Duggan, Wilson, & Repke, 1996).…”

Intragroup Accounts of Teenage Motherhood: A Community Based Psychological Perspective

“…The general picture to emerge from this research is that social support may be beneficial, at times inconsequential, and occasionally detrimental (Chen, Telleen & Chen, 1995;Davis & Rhodes, 1994;Richardson, Barbour & Bubenzer, 1991;Thompson & Peebles-Wilkins, 1992). The work of Thompson and PeeblesWilkins (1992) is particularly interesting in that it is one of the few research studies to focus on the relative merits of societal support for black teenage mothers from disadvantaged communities.…”

Adolescent Motherhood and Capital: Interaction Effects of Race/Ethnicity on Harsh Parenting

“…Informal social support may affect parental discipline approaches toward childrearing (Belsky, ; Nath, Borkowski, Whitman, & Schellenbach, ). Paternal support may be an important form of social capital for mothers, especially young mothers, to improve their psychological well‐being (Roye & Balk, ) and to adjust to their parenting and caregiving roles (Thompson & Peebles‐Wilkins, ; Chen, Tellen, & Chen, ). Having someone to help with babysitting/child care or housekeeping could be another form of social capital for mothers (Xu et al, ).…”