Risk and Protective Factors in At-Risk Mothers' Aand Children's Socioemotional Adjustment

This project examined relationships between maternal resources and the socioemotional development for 129 14-year old children born to adolescent mothers. Based on data from the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project, key variables assumed to mediate the relationship between parenting practices and children's socioemotional development were included as well as potential variables that might protect against risks associated with poor maternal adjustment. The primary hypothesis was supported: Parental attitudes at age 14 mediated high levels of maternal adjustment and children's emotional adjustment during early adolescence. The hypotheses that examined protective factors - financial resources, religiosity, parenting support, father involvement, and parenting attitudes - as moderators were not supported by the data. The current study examined risk and protective factors in the lives of adolescent mothers combined with models of family processes and parenting that contributed to successful socio-behavioral outcomes in their adolescent children. Such a model advocates for psycho-educational interventions that yield improved parent- focused interventions that are designed to lower the risk of these problems in children.