Social Support, Family Functioning and Parenting Competence in Adolescent Parents

Abstract

Depression is known to mediate the association between low social support and parenting competence in adult mothers, but this relationship is rarely assessed in adolescent mothers and fathers. The primary aim of this study was to identify the association between social support, family functioning and social capital on parenting competence, including self-efficacy and satisfaction in adolescent mothers and their partners. Secondary aims included identifying potential partner effects (e.g. whether a partner's social support influenced the respondent's parenting efficacy). Data was obtained from a subset of participants from a longitudinal study of pregnant adolescent females and their partners. Couples completed individual structured interviews via audio computer-assisted self-interview during pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. To measure the influence of support on parenting outcomes, multi-level modeling was used to assess the Actor–Partner Interdependence model, which examines responses from both members of a dyad in a single analysis. Greater social support was associated with increased parenting self-efficacy (B = 0.062, p = 0.006) and parenting satisfaction (B = 0.111, p < 0.001). Higher family functioning was also associated with greater parenting satisfaction (B = 0.05, p = 0.035). Greater partner family functioning was associated with higher parenting satisfaction (B = 0.047, p = 0.026). This study found the importance of a strong support structure during pregnancy on perceived parenting competence in the early postpartum period for young mothers and fathers. Both social support and family functioning during pregnancy were associated with a greater sense of parenting competence, and these associations were mediated by parental depression. The results of this study underscore the importance of providing social support for young expectant fathers as well as mothers.

The Effects of Social Support on the Relationship between Infant Sleep and Postnatal Depression

“…As 89% of the participants in the present study were either married or in de facto relationships, there is a high chance that the social support parents were receiving was from their Microsystem, their partner. Consistent with past findings on social support (Angley, Divney, Magriples & Kershaw, 2015); the significant result here could be attributed to both parents sharing infant caregiving responsibilities, this contributing positively to reducing maternal stress.…”

“…Having a partner who is available and actively supports, encourages and appreciates the person caring for the child can significantly improve parental mood and health (Bronfenbrenner, 1989). Stable social support from the Microsystem allows for a strong and supportive environment to be formed where both the main caregiver and the child would benefit (Angley et al, 2015). Therefore, this may result in a reduction of stress levels in the environment, and thus, a child's sleep problems my improve (Kataria et al, 1987).…”

Community-Based Partnership to Improve Parenting Skills and Academic Achievement and Reduce Subsequent Births

“…Within Project MAS, the family social workers were nonjudgmental and compassionate with the mothers. A recent study found that social support from families, friends, and professionals was positively correlated with young mothers' confidence in parenting skills [20]. Perhaps the interactions with family social workers from Project MAS with all adolescent mothers in the study may explain the positive outcomes for both groups.…”

Unge udsatte mødre og deres små børn

“…Udsatte unge mødre angives f.eks. at opleve mindre social støtte fra sociale netvaerk, hvilket potentielt øger risikoen for ikke at udvikle tilstraekkelig foraeldrekompetence, ligesom mødrene ofte står alene med foraeldreansvaret (Barr & Simons, 2012;Angley et al, 2015). Ligeledes peges på, at børn født af udsatte unge mødre ofte er udsat for mindre omsorg og mindre sensitiv opdragelse og derfor også er svagere stillet rent udviklingsmaessigt sammenlignet med jaevnaldrende børn, der ikke er født af udsatte unge mødre (Laghi et al, 2013;Vinson & Stevens, 2014).…”