Patterns of depression among adolescent mothers: Resilience related to father support and home visiting program.

Abstract

The negative consequences of maternal depression are a major public health concern, both for mothers and for their children. Despite the high prevalence of depression among adolescent mothers, little is known about the patterns of adolescent mothers' depression in the early parenting years. The present study examined mothers' depression during the first 2 years following childbirth in a sample of 428 young mothers (20 or younger at first childbirth) who were participants in a randomized controlled trial of a home visiting parenting support program. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the self-reported Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Mothers were classified into groups based on whether their depressive symptoms were below or above the cutoff for clinically significant symptomatology. Depression groups (stable nondepressed, stable depressed, remitted depression) were associated with variations in mothers' satisfaction with support from the baby's father and enrollment in the home visiting program. Maternal depression was more likely to remit when mothers were satisfied with father support; assignment to the home visiting program was associated with mothers remaining mentally healthy. Results have clinical and policy implications for prevention and intervention programs.

Predicting postpartum depression among adolescent mothers: A systematic review of risk

“…This may be due to family members being more attuned to the adolescent's triggers or mood fluctuations prior to, or during pregnancy. Indeed, family members may first recognise symptoms of depression in a new mother, and therefore initiate help-seeking and early intervention (Easterbrooks et al, 2016). Of interest, support from friends was not associated with PPD in these same studies.…”

“…Moreover, adolescent mothers appear to be at increased risk of postpartum depression (PPD) (Mollborn & Morningstar, 2009). Rates of PPD among mothers of all ages in western societies are reported to range from 13%-19% (O'Hara and McCabe, 2013), yet estimates are much higher, up to approximately 40%, in adolescent mothers (Easterbrooks, Kotake, Raskin, & Bumgarner, 2016;Logsdon et al, 2005;Schmidt et al, 2006).…”

Predicting posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms among adolescents in the extended postpartum period

“…Most adolescent mothers experience a normative transition in which the influence by parental figures becomes outweighed by the influence of peers and romantic partners ( Milan et al., 2004 ). Support and greater relationship quality with a significant other have been shown to associate with reduced perceived stress and depression among postpartum Hispanic adolescents ( Easterbrooks et al., 2016 ; Meltzer-Brody et al., 2013 ). Meltzer-Brody and colleagues (2013) found that around six weeks, general support and support from the father of the baby increased, which researchers termed the “honeymoon period.” After a few months, however, researchers hypothesized that support would diminish, and depression would increase.…”

Discrimination and Ethnic–Racial Identity: Understanding Direction of Effects Using Within‐ and Between‐Person Analyses

“…Thus, our finding that discrimination can undermine adolescents’ ERI development is troubling because it implies that the very resource that can potentially protect youth against the deleterious effects of discrimination is threatened by the risk factor it can protect against. Specific to adolescent mothers, this may mean that prevention programs, which typically focus on supporting adolescent mothers’ parenting processes (e.g., Easterbrooks, Kotake, Raskin, & Bumgamer, ; Jacobs et al., ), should also consider adolescent mothers’ experiences that are not solely tied to their parenting status. Growing evidence suggests that parents’ discrimination experiences impact parent–child interactions and children's developmental outcomes (Zeiders, Umaña‐Taylor, Jahromi, Updegraff, & White, ).…”