Understanding Adolescents
and Their Young Children:
Promoting School Readiness
Lisa Knoche, Ph.D.
Jami E. Givens, M.A.
Susan M. Sheridan, Ph.D.
Amy L. Chatelain, M.A.
Sarah Springer, B.S.
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
National Association of School Psychologists
(NASP) Annual Convention, Anaheim, CA
March 30, 2006
Outline

Introduction to the research question
–
–
–
–
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Adolescent parents
Risk factors for child development
Maternal depression
Parental sense of competence
Rationale/Purpose of the study
Method of data collection
Analyses/Results
Implications for Practice
Questions
Adolescent Parents

The adolescent birth rate in
the US is higher than any
other industrialized country
(Singh and Darroch, 2000).

Approximately 750,000
teens become pregnant
each year (Borkowski, Bisconti,
Willard, Keogh, Whitman, & Weed, 2002)

Adolescent parents have
unique strengths and they
also face unique challenges
while raising their young
children.
Risk Factors for Child
Development

Children of adolescent parents are at particular risk;
having a teen mother is associated with lower
levels of language skills and delayed cognitive
development in children (Griffin & Morrison, 1997; Sameroff & Fiese,
2000; Stanton-Chapman, Chapman, Kaiser, & Hancock, 2004).

Though this is not true of all adolescent mothers,
some adolescent mothers have been found to
initiate fewer verbal interactions and are not as
responsive to their children as older mothers
(Brooks-Gunn & Palkoff, 1991).

Interpersonal challenges of parenting, including
physical exhaustion, isolation, and lack of support is
more common among adolescent parents
(Birkeland, Thompson, & Phares, 2005).
Risk Factors for Child
Development (cont’d)
Adolescent parents often:

Have a changing and unreliable support system
– Adolescent mothers are likely to raise their child
without the child’s biological father or a stable male
role model (Borkowski, et al., 2002).

Have insufficient income, resulting in poverty.
– Poverty has been found to have large effects on cognitive
development in children.
(Petterson & Albers, 2001).

Continue to have additional children while still in
their teens (Borkowski et al., 2002).
Depression



Adolescent mothers have unique mental health needs.
Young mothers are twice as likely to experience
depression as adult mothers (Deal & Holt, 1998).
29% of a sample of teen mothers met criteria for
clinical depression (Birkeland, Thompson, & Phares, 2005).
– 10% to 34% of non-adolescent mothers report
clinical levels of depressive symptoms (Kline, Martin, & Deyo,
1998; Walker, 1997).

Maternal depression is related to a host of adverse
infant and child outcomes including poor cognitive
development, insecure attachment, and behavioral
problems (Murray, 1992; Murray, Fiori-Cowley, Hooper & Cooper, 1996; Petterson &
Albers, 2001).
Child Outcomes Related
to Parental Depression



In particular, infants of depressed mothers
are more irritable, less active, less
responsive, and less physically developed
than infants of mothers who are not
depressed (Field, 1998).
Infants of depressed mothers engaged in
less exploratory play at 12 months
Maternal depression was a strong
contributor to Bayley cognitive outcomes
(Field, Estroff, Yando, del Valle, Malphurs, & Hart, 1995).
Inconsistent Outcomes Related
to Parental Depression

Further studies have found no relationship
between maternal depression and a child’s
cognitive tasks (Murray, 1992; Murray, Fiori-Cowley, Hooper, & Cooper,
1996).


Although the studies have been somewhat
inconclusive, the results indicate that
maternal depression may effect cognitive
development.
More investigation needs to be done to fully
understand the impact of maternal
depression on children.
Parental Sense of
Competence

Self-efficacy is a set of beliefs concerning
one’s ability to carry out and perform tasks
effectively in a particular setting
(Raikes & Thompson, 2005).

The self-efficacy beliefs of mothers have
been found to be related to effective
parenting behaviors and children’s
developmental status (Coleman & Karraker, 2000; Coleman, Trent,
Bryan, King, Rogers, Nazir, 2002; Bondy & Mash, 1999)
Parental Sense of
Competence (cont’d)

High maternal self-efficacy leads to more
responsive and less-punitive caretaking,
attention to infant signals, and more active
and directive parenting interactions
(Coleman & Karraker, 2000).

Parental self-efficacy and competence was
found to be significantly related to children’s
Mental Development Index (MDI) scores on
the Bayley Scales of Infant Development
(Coleman & Karraker, 2003).
Rationale for Study



Limited information is known about the role of
depression and parental sense of competence on
children’s development, particularly for adolescent
parents.
Even less is known about how parental competence
interacts with maternal depression to predict child
outcomes, particularly for adolescent mothers.
Because depression and parental competence are both
known to affect parenting behaviors and contribute to
child outcomes in the parenting population at-large, it
is reasonable to examine the interaction of these
predictors and their combined influence on young
children’s cognitive development for an adolescent
sample.
Purpose of the Study

To assess the predictive effects of depression and
parental sense of competence (including the
interaction of these predictors) on the cognitive
development for children of adolescent mothers.
Depression
Parental Sense
of Competence
Child Cognitive
Development
Participants

Recruited from four high schools in a Midwestern
community

50 adolescent mothers, grades nine through twelve
(average age = 17.3 years; range 14 – 21 years)
– 44% Caucasian, 22% African American, 16%
Hispanic/Latino, 6% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and
10% other.

50 infant/toddlers
(average age = 9.6 months; range 1 - 35 months)

Each adolescent mother participates in the Student
Parent Program at her school
Student Parent
Program


The mission of the Student Parent Program is to assist
adolescent parents through educational and
community supports.
The goals of program include
(1) increasing the number of adolescent parents who graduate
from high school
(2) providing preventive interventions
(3) increasing parenting quality


The mothers attend high school while their children
are cared for in a child development center in the
school.
The mothers participate in a parenting class.
Getting Ready Project



Students recruited for this investigation are involved
in The Getting Ready Project through the University
of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL).
The Getting Ready Project is a five-year longitudinal
study.
The study is investigating the effects of a
comprehensive strengths-based intervention on:
– child learning, socioemotional, and behavioral outcomes,
as well as on parent engagement behaviors over the years
of birth to five.
Procedure



Infant/toddlers are assessed by graduate assistants
twice a year in the child development center in
their high school.
Parent interviews are conducted three times a year
in each high school.
Families are compensated for their time.
Measures

Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Second
Edition (BSID-II; Bayley, 1993)
– Outcome measure to assess cognitive, language and
personal-social functioning of the infant and toddler
participants

Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
(CES-D; Radloff, 1977)
– Measure of depressive symptomology

Parental Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC;
Johnston & Mash, 1989)
– Measure of current parental efficacy and satisfaction in
maternal role
Table 1. Descriptives of key study variables
Mean
SD
Cronbach’s
Alpha
Bayley MDI
91.70
10.77
n/a
Depression
(CESD)
11.69
8.89
0.85
0.63
0.77
Parental
4.60
Sense of
Competence
(PSOC)
Analyses



Correlation and multiple regression were
conducted to predict the cognitive outcomes
of infants and young children.
The analysis included depression, parental
sense of competence, and their interaction
as predictors of child cognitive outcomes.
Bivariate correlations were computed among
the CESD, PSOC, Bayley, maternal age, and
child age.
Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50)
Bayley
MDI
CESD
Total
PSOC
Total
Mothers
Age
Child’s
Age
Bayley MDI
CESD Total
-0.37*
PSOC Total
0.39**
-0.58**
Mother’s Age
-0.13
0.28
-0.28
Child’s Age
0.02
0.05
-0.09
0.22
*p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001
• As adolescent mothers depression increases, their children
score lower on the Bayley.
Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50)
Bayley
MDI
CESD
Total
PSOC
Total
Mothers
Age
Child’s
Age
Bayley MDI
CESD Total
-0.37*
PSOC Total
0.39**
-0.58**
Mother’s Age
-0.13
0.28
-0.28
Child’s Age
0.02
0.05
-0.09
0.22
*p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001
• Higher levels of competence in the adolescent mothers related
to higher child scores on the Bayley.
Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50)
Bayley
MDI
CESD
Total
PSOC
Total
Mothers
Age
Child’s
Age
Bayley MDI
CESD Total
-0.37*
PSOC Total
0.39**
-0.58**
Mother’s Age
-0.13
0.28
-0.28
Child’s Age
0.02
0.05
-0.09
0.22
*p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001
• Depression and competence are negatively related.
- As depression increased, parental sense of competence diminished.
This provides evidence that the two predictors might interact to relate to
child outcomes.
Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50)
Bayley
MDI
CESD
Total
PSOC
Total
Mothers
Age
Child’s
Age
Bayley MDI
CESD Total
-0.37*
PSOC Total
0.39**
-0.58**
Mother’s Age
-0.13
0.28
-0.28
Child’s Age
0.02
0.05
-0.09
0.22
*p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001
• Maternal age and child age were not statistically related to any
of the variables.
Multiple Regression
Depression
Parental Sense
of Competence

Child Cognitive
Development
The regression model, produced a significant
effect, R² = .38, adjusted R² = .34,
F (3,42) = 8.72, p <.01
– The model predicts up to 38% of the variance in
child cognitive outcomes.
Table 3. Multiple regression predicting child cognitive development
Model
β
B
SE B
(Constant)
93.68
1.41
Depression
(CESD)
-0.04
0.19
-0.03
Parental Sense of
Competence
(PSOC)
2.21
2.63
0.13
Interaction PSOC
x CESD
0.61
0.17
0.53**
Note. R² = 0.38**
*p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001
Multiple Regression



Depression, when controlling for the effects of parental sense
of competence and the interaction term, was not significantly
predictive of child scores on the Bayley.
Similarly, parental sense of competence, when controlling for
the effects of depression and the interaction term, was not
statistically significant.
However, there was a significant interaction between maternal
depression and parental sense of competence that predicted
child cognitive development.
Depression
Parental Sense
of Competence
Child Cognitive
Development
Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley
as moderated by maternal depression
105
Low CESD
High CESD
Bayley
95
85
75
Low PSOC
High PSOC
Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley as
moderated by maternal depression
105
Low CESD
High CESD
Bayley
95
85
75
Low PSOC
High PSOC
For children of parents with high levels of depression
(one standard deviation above the mean; CESD=20.37), high levels of
parental sense of competence (one standard deviation above the
mean; PSOC = 5.21) related to higher scores on child outcomes
measured by the Bayley.
Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley as
moderated by maternal depression
105
Low CESD
High CESD
Bayley
95
85
75
Low PSOC
High PSOC
When parents have high levels of depression, and have low
levels of parental competence (one standard deviation below mean;
PSOC = 3.98), their children have lower scores on the Bayley than
children of parents with average or low levels of depression.
Discussion




Previous literature has shown that depression, as
well as parental competence are related to child
outcomes.
The relationship of these variables for adolescent
parents in particular is less understood.
In this study, we found that the main effects of
depression and parental competence are not
predictive of Bayley scores, a somewhat surprising
finding.
Regression analyses reveal that the interaction of
depression and competence statistically significantly
predicts child outcomes.
What does this mean?



Cognitive outcomes for children of adolescent parents
are best explained by taking into account both
depression and parental competence.
For adolescent parents with high levels of depression,
parental sense of competence is important in
predicting their children’s cognitive outcomes.
Parental competence, in some ways, is acting as a
“buffer” for children.
What does this mean?

Despite experiencing depression, adolescent parents
who develop a high sense of parental competence –
perhaps a feeling of competence in a single domain
of their often chaotic lives – are able to support
positive development in their children.

This is an important area for intervention in work
with adolescent parents.
Implications for Practice


School psychologists are in a unique position to
promote positive outcomes in adolescent parents
and their young children.
By understanding factors related to the cognitive
development of infants and young children of
adolescent mothers, school psychologists and other
mental health personnel will be better equipped to
promote school readiness and collaboration
between home and school.
– This will allow professionals to develop and implement
preventative and intervention techniques to effectively
serve young children and their adolescent mothers.
Implications for
Practice (cont’d)

School psychologists can play multiple roles in
prevention and intervention efforts to:
– Address the educational and mental health needs of
adolescent parents
– Promote parenting skills and early childhood development
– Screen for and addressing mental health issues

For parents who are experiencing depression, high
levels of parental competence serve as a protective
factor for their children’s development.
– Efforts should be made to improve overall sense of parental
competence, through services such as parent consultation,
parent training, and other support services
Implications for
Practice (cont’d)


School psychologists can help build capacities in
adolescent parents who are suffering with
depression.
Other factors that school psychologists need to
consider as they work to support school readiness
in the young children of adolescent parents:
– Environmental factors, including home literacy
environment, poverty, and social stress.

School psychologists need to serve as advocates for
adolescent parents and their children
– Support services such as the Student Parent Program can
play an instrumental role in encouraging positive
development in both parents and children.
Questions?
Lisa Knoche: lknoche2@unl.edu
Jami Givens: jgivens@bigred.unl.edu
Sarah Springer: skspring@bigred.unl.edu
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