Parenting in Adolescence

Barbara Baumgardner & Maureen M. Black

Negative stereotypes do little to explain the variability in experience among adolescent mothers. This brief entry introduces the areas of potential concern, discusses the developmental significance of teen pregnancy, and tracks recent demographic trends. Moving on to an examination of both risk and protective factors in the lives of young women provides a meaningful way to conceptualize the issues faced by early adoption of the mothering role. Suggestions for policymakers and future researchers lie embedded within these potential perils and protective factors. Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing are topics of national concern because they can have long-lasting negative consequences for young parents and their children. Young women who begin their child-bearing as adolescents are often unprepared for the tasks of parenting, have relatively high rates of depression, are less likely to complete high school, and are more likely to require public assistance compared with women who do not begin childbearing until ...

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