Understanding Adolescents and Their Young Children: Promoting School Readiness

1. 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

2. Outline • Introduction to the research question • 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

3. 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.

4. 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).

5. 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).

6. 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).

7. 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).

8. 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.

9. 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)

10. 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).

11. 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.

12. Depression Child Cognitive Development Parental Sense of Competence 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.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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

18. Table 1. Descriptives of key study variables

19. 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.

20. Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50) *p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001 • As adolescent mothers depression increases, their children score lower on the Bayley.

21. Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50) *p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001 • Higher levels of competence in the adolescent mothers related to higher child scores on the Bayley.

22. Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50) *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.

23. Table 2. Bivariate Correlations (N = 50) *p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001 • Maternal age and child age were not statistically related to any of the variables.

24. Multiple Regression Depression • 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. Child Cognitive Development Parental Sense of Competence

25. Table 3. Multiple regression predicting child cognitive development Note. R² = 0.38** *p ≤ .05; ** p ≤ .01; *** p ≤ .001

26. 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 Child Cognitive Development Parental Sense of Competence

27. Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley as moderated by maternal depression

28. Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley as moderated by maternal depression 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.

29. Figure 1. Relation between parental competence and Bayley as moderated by maternal depression 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.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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

35. 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.

36. Questions? Lisa Knoche: lknoche2@unl.edu Jami Givens: jgivens@bigred.unl.edu Sarah Springer: skspring@bigred.unl.edu

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