Thesis (DTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / There are many challenges to girls' education. Each and every barrier is challenging in and of itself. Teenage pregnancy/motherhood is a major cause of schooling disruption. Research shows that about 4 in every 10 girls become pregnant at least once before age 20 (McDowell, 2003). In most cases, teen pregnancy/motherhood has resulted in the discontinuation of education for the girls, leading to the loss of a sustainable future. In South Africa, girls have the right to continue schooling in public schools even after becoming mothers. In the Western Cape, the Education Department introduced the Managing Learner Pregnancy Policy (MLPP) which guarantees pregnant or mothering learners a right to remain in public schools. Despite the MLPP, teen mothers face a number of challenges as learners - they feel marginalised by the schooling system. Consequently, it is not easy for the girls to succeed with their schooling. They experience pressure from teachers, fellow learners, parents and society. In most cases, the teen mothers receive very little support and they are usually misunderstood. Society perceives teen mothers as deviants, failures and irredeemable girls who can contaminate other girls and influence them to behave immorally. Teen mothers are stigmatised. The stigma and discourses that help to construct it are the forces that impact on the schooling processes of the teen mothers. In most cases, responses of educators, parents and communities towards teen mothers are affected by beliefs, values and attitudes situated in the discourses.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Adolescent pregnancy has been of longstanding societal concern primarily because of the inability of most young mothers to provide adequately for their infants. Depression often results in disengagement from mother-child interaction. Adolescent mothers identified as depressed are at increased risk of future psychopathology, with additional deleterious effects on their infants’ lives. The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent mothers’ experiences of motherhood and memories of feeling depressed during or after the birth of their babies. The first aim was to explore the young women’s experiences of mothering, by focusing upon the practice of being a mother. The second aim was to explore the young women’s experiences of depression, by focusing on their physical behaviour and emotional experiences. The third aim was to explore their perceptions of the causes of their depression. The rationale for this study was that these issues will further enhance the body of knowledge available to practitioners working with adolescent mothers. It will also provide a source of insights and hypotheses for preventive intervention research. The study was located within a feminist standpoint framework that begins from the perspective of women with the aim to explore women’s accounts of their experiences in relation to depression as an important source of knowledge. A qualitative research design and methodology was employed in the region of the Western Cape. Eight adolescent mothers between the ages of 16 and 19 were recruited and interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and consisted out of open-ended questions. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis of data was carried out. The findings of this research yielded some interesting areas for future research and implications for treatment and intervention with first-time adolescent mothers. The adolescent mothers in this study experienced similar depressive symptoms to adult mothers in previous research. All the participants revealed that they feared their parents’ disappointment in them for being pregnant. This factor contributed to their depression, because they received very little (if any) support from their parents or the father of their baby. The participants discussed that their pregnancy or giving birth was linked to various aspects of themselves that they had lost as an adolescent. Before they received counselling, none of the participants understood why they experienced depressive symptoms or what was happening to them at the time after their pregnancies. / South Africa

This treatise reports on a qualitative exploratory study that was aimed at identifying and describing the challenges experienced by single mothers who were students at a South African university. The researcher is of the view that single parenthood is a global challenge but very little has been done to explore this phenomenon in South Africa. A purposive convenience sample of four voluntary full time registered single mother students at a university in the Western Cape Province was utilised in the study. The participants ranged in age between eighteen and twenty three years and were English second language speakers. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with the four participants and the data were analysed into qualitative themes. The following main challenges for the sample of single mother university students emerged from the data: (i) Financial challenges. (ii) Concern for the general wellbeing of children. (iii) Difficulties regarding the separation of mother and child. (iv) The importance of tertiary education in finding future employment. (v) Dual role stress. Sub-themes within these main themes were also identified and discussed. Recommendations for future research, based on the findings of this study, are also offered.

Thesis (M. Cur.) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / The purpose of this study was to explore effects of teenage motherhood on the secondary education of the female learner. A qualitative research method and a descriptive, exploratory research design were adopted to undertake the study. Five one-on-one interviews were conducted and the data was analysed by using Tesch’s method of analysis. Three themes and nine sub-themes were generated from the analysed data. The research findings indicate that teenage motherhood does not have a negative effect on the ability of the learner to continue attending school, but also suggest that the various challenges experienced by the learner do have adverse effects on her school performance and ultimate decision to suspend school. There were other factors that influenced her academic performance and decision to continue or suspend school attendance; namely family support, experiences at school, as well as the cultural beliefs, traditions, and perceptions of the society she was living in. Key concepts: Teenage motherhood, effects, secondary education.

Adolescent mothers experience many factors that affect their ability to securely attach to their infants and are therefore considered a high-risk population. In addition, infants of adolescent mothers are at an increased risk of developing insecure attachment. FirstPlay® Therapy Infant Storytelling-Massage is an attachment-based, parent–infant adjunctive play therapy model founded on the theoretical underpinning of attachment theory. The current study implemented a one-time intervention with an adolescent mother population in a group home setting. A pretest/posttest design was utilized to measure the impact of FirstPlay® Therapy on the variables of an adolescent mother’s levels of maternal attachment and comfort with physical touch. Participants in this study (N = 5) were adolescent mothers ages 18–21 years old, who were recruited from four maternity group homes in two counties in South Florida. Five adolescent mothers completed the FirstPlay® Therapy for pre and posttest data. No significant differences were found in the areas of maternal attachment and predisposition to touch before and 2 weeks after the intervention. There were some significant relationships found among the demographic variables specific to an adolescent mother’s history of employment status and her child welfare history as well as the age of the mother and the age of her infant. In addition, at posttest, a significant relationship was found between the sex of the infant and the total score on the PCAQ. Although no statistically significant findings were presented, recommendations for further research include extending this intervention to a broader population of adolescent mothers across a variety of settings to focus on early infant-attachment relationships. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Research Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree MA in Psychology by Coursework and Research Report Wits School of Human & Community Development, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, June, 2016 / Research has found that teenage mothers are less likely to develop a positive parent child relationship and to form an emotional bond with the child because they are not prepared to be parent as teenagers. Since there is high rate of teenage pregnancy in South Africa, this would mean that there is a vast amount of teenage mothers in the country. Therefore, it would be expected that, it would be a challenge for these teenage mothers to form an emotional bond with their children. Hence the purpose of the study is to look at the socio-emotional development of children born to teenage mothers in the South African context. This was done by first investigating whether there was a relationship between teenage childbearing and the child’s social-emotional development in middle and late childhood and to determine whether the socio-emotional development of children born to teenage mothers differs significantly with the children that are not born to non-teenage mothers. This study adopted a non-experimental Ex-Post-Facto correlational Design. A self-designed biographical information questionnaire was used to measure the demographics. To measure social-emotional development in children, an Emotional Quotient Inventory: The preliminary results of the research indicate that the type of mother was a statistically significant predictor of the child’s social and emotional development. Furthermore, that the socio-emotional development of children born of teenage mothers was different from the socio-emotional development of children born to non-teenage mothers, as the social and emotional development of children born to teenage mothers was higher than that of children born to non-teenage mothers. The conclusion can be drawn that teenage childbearing does not seem to negatively influence the social and emotional development of children born to teenage mothers

Thesis (M Social Work (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to South African policy documents, social welfare services, health care providers and schools should place special focus on supporting pregnant adolescents to avoid the possible deleterious effects of early unplanned pregnancies. This implies that pregnant adolescents require support, from multiple levels, in order to adjust positively to their pregnancy so as to promote their well-being and the well-being of their unborn child. This study explores and describes the support needs of pregnant adolescents in three lowincome communities. This was done by examining the support that was currently available and utilised by pregnant adolescents, as well as identifying areas that required improved support. By adopting an ecological approach to the study, the need for support could be investigated on multiple levels. A combination of a quantitative and qualitative research approach was used in the study. The study further assumed an exploratory and descriptive research design in order to provide a detailed description of the phenomenon being studied, namely adolescent pregnancy. Data was gathered by means of a semi-structured questionnaire, which was administered during an individual interview. This allowed for data to be collected that was both measurable as well as rich in description. The design of the semi-structured questionnaire was based on the information obtained from the literature review. The findings of the empirical investigation reveal that adolescents have limited knowledge of formal support services, particularly social welfare services, support groups and health care services, which results in poor utilisation of these services. Consequently, limited support is attributed to these particular services. The findings further indicate that informal sources of support, such as family, friends and partners, were relatively supportive during the adolescent’s pregnancy. However, the adolescents’ relationships with their parents and partners were particularly strained during the pregnancy, especially the relationship with their father. Of significance is the finding that fathers were considered those who offered the adolescents the least amount of support during the pregnancy. As a result of their pregnancy, the adolescents were stigmatised on multiple levels. There was stigmatisation from their friends and peers at school, which had an impact on their social adjustment. Stigma experienced at health care services led to chastising experiences, which deterred the adolescents from utilising such services. Furthermore, pregnant adolescents are stigmatised by their community, and the widespread judgement leads to increased tension and apprehension when seeking formal and informal support. The most important recommendations resulting from the study indicate that many resources of support would be better utilised during pregnancy if adolescents had greater knowledge of the support available to them. This is of particular significance with regard to social welfare services, which play a key role in educating adolescents, their parents and the community about sexuality, adolescent pregnancy and the significance of support. In addition, the recommendations emphasise the importance of promoting and facilitating peer education and support services, which could be of great value for pregnant adolescents. Receiving support and education from peers can be highly effective, but also allows pregnant adolescents to make a valuable contribution to other adolescents in similar situations. In doing so, pregnant adolescents are empowered and encouraged, which is much needed in an environment where they are typically shunned and branded as failures. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Volgens Suid-Afrikaanse beleidsdokumente moet maatskaplike welsynsdienste, gesondheidsdiensteverskaffers sowel as skole ʼn spesiale fokus plaas op die ondersteuning van swanger adolessente om sodoende die nadelige gevolge van vroeë, onbeplande swangerskappe te beveg. Dit veronderstel dat swanger adolessente hulp benodig uit vele vlakke ten einde ʼn positiewe aanpassing tot hulle swangerskap te maak om sodoende hulle eie welstand en dié van hulle ongebore kind te bevorder. Hierdie studie ondersoek en beskryf die ondersteuningsbehoeftes van swanger adolessente in drie lae-inkomste gemeenskappe. Dit is gedoen deur die huidige ondersteuning wat wel beskikbaar is en deur swanger adolessente gebruik is, te ondersoek, asook om aspekte te identifiseer wat meer ondersteuning benodig. Deur die gebruik van ʼn ekologiese benadering tot hierdie studie kon die behoefte aan ondersteuning dus op veelvoudige vlakke ondersoek word. ʼn Kombinasie van kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodes is in hierdie studie gebruik. Die studie veronderstel verder ʼn verkennende en beskrywende navorsingsontwerp om sodoende ʼn uitvoerige beskrywing van die verskynsel wat ondersoek word, naamlik adolessente swangerskap, te verskaf. Data is ingevorder deur die gebruik van ʼn semigestruktureerde vraelys wat tydens individuele onderhoude toegedien is. Dit het toegelaat dat data ingevorder kon word wat beide meetbaar sowel as ryk in beskrywing was. Die ontwerp van die semi-gestruktureerde vraelys is gebaseer op inligting verkry uit die literatuurstudie. Die bevindinge vanuit die empiriese ondersoek dui daarop dat adolessente beperkte kennis het oor die formele ondersteuningsdienste, veral maatskaplike welsynsdienste, ondersteuningsgroepe en gesondheidsdienste, wat dan swak gebruik van bogenoemde dienste tot gevolg het. Gevolglik word beperkte ondersteuning aan hierdie dienste toegeskryf. Die bevindinge dui verder dat informele bronne van ondersteuning, soos familie, vriende en metgeselle, relatief ondersteunend was tydens die adolessent se swangerskap. Nietemin was die adolessente se verhoudings met hulle ouers en metgeselle besonder gespanne, veral dié met hulle vaders. Van aansienlike belang was die bevinding dat veral vaders beskou is as dié persone wat die minste ondersteuning tydens die swangerskap gebied het. Daarbenewens word adolessente as gevolg van hulle swangerskap op veelvoudige vlakke gestigmatiseer. Daar is stigmatisering deur vriende en portuurgroepe op skool, wat ’n impak het op die adolessent se sosiale aanpassing. Stigmatisering deur gesondheidsdienste het gelei tot tugtigingsondervindings wat die adolessente daarvan weerhou het om hierdie dienste te gebruik. Verder word adolessente ook deur hulle gemeenskappe gestigmatiseer, waar die algemene veroordeling lei tot verhoogde spanning en vrees wanneer hulle formele of informele ondersteuning benodig. Die belangrikste aanbevelings van hierdie studie, dui daarop dat vele bronne van ondersteuning beter gebruik sou geword het tydens swangerskap indien die adolessente meer kennis van die beskikbare ondersteuning gehad het. Dit is veral opmerklik ten opsigte van maatskaplike welsynsdienste, wat ʼn vername rol speel in die opvoeding van adolessente, hulle ouers en die gemeenskap aangaande seksualiteit, adolessente swangerskap en die belangrikheid van ondersteuning. Daarby benadruk die aanbevelings die belangrikheid van die bevordering en fasilitering van portuurgroepopvoeding en ondersteuningsdienste, wat van groot waarde vir adolessente kan wees. Om ondersteuning van portuurgroepe te ontvang, kan nie slegs hoogseffektief wees nie, maar ook toelaat dat swanger adolessente ʼn positiewe bydrae aan ander adolessente kan maak wat hulle in dieselfde situasie mag bevind. Sodoende word swanger adolessente bemagtig en bemoedig, wat noodsaaklik is in ʼn omgewing waar hulle tipies vermy en as mislukkings beskou word.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Adolescence is a period of rapid development marked by significant neurological and behavioral change. Normative neurological shifts that take place during this stage of life occur in the areas of the brain most associated with response inhibition and emotion regulation which is understood in the context of the observed increases in impulsivity and emotional lability among many adolescents. These facets of development may present unique challenges for those adolescents who enter parenthood ruing this period of life as increasing evidence suggests that emotional and cognitive control are highly related to parenting behavior. Those parents who are better able to modulate their emotional responses are best able to cultivate sensitive and nurturing home environments for their children. Compounding the risk for themselves and their children, adolescent mothers also face a constellation of risk factors including poverty, low educational attainment, elevated levels of stress and high rates of early life trauma exposures. Those adolescent mothers who experience homelessness face additional risk, in part because social support and family involvement have been shown to benefit young parents and their children. A substantive body of literature suggests that these interrelated risk factors may stress the capacity to effectively parent, leading adolescent mothers to be less affectionate, less positive, more hostile and intrusive and less emotionally available when interacting with their children. Consequently, supporting adolescent mothers is of great public health concern as they, and their children, are at risk for a range of non-optimal outcomes. The aim of this dissertation was to contribute to the current body of literature linking maternal emotion regulation with positive parenting practices among a highly vulnerable sample of homeless adolescent mothers and their children. Specifically, this dissertation used archival data to extend the current understanding of these associations by exploring the ways in which early life exposure to psychological aggression influenced the regulatory capacities and parenting behaviors of a sample of homeless adolescent mothers. To date, few studies have utilized a computerized measure of response control and behavioral inhibition under emotionally salient conditions in conjunction with ecologically valid multiple observer coded video observations of parent-child interactions within this high-risk population. Participants (N=72) were adolescent mothers and their children living in nine Transitional Living Programs (TLPs) across a Northeastern state, aged 16-22 years old and predominantly Latinx and Black American. On average, participants had one child (M=1.3 years-old). Nearly half of the participants reported a history of foster care or group home involvement. Thirty-two percent of the sample self-reported clinically significant levels of depression and, on average, participants reported slightly elevated levels of anxiety. Consistent with the literature, the sample evidenced significant trauma exposures with participants reporting having experienced an average of three discrete traumatic events. For example, 37.3% reported having experienced physical violence in their home, 72% reported having experienced violence in their community, 45.3% reported having witnessed violence in their community, and 36.3% reported having experienced some form of sexual abuse. Data were collected from the baseline interview of a randomized control trial examining the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase positive parenting among a sample of adolescent mothers living in TLPs. For this study, interpersonal trauma exposure was operationalized via the Psychological Aggression Scale of the Parent Child Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1999). Maternal sensitivity and hostility were operationalized using the Sensitivity and Non-Hostility scales of the Emotional Availability Scales, 4th edition (EA Scales; Biringen, 2008). Maternal emotion recognition and regulation were operationalized via the Emotion Go/NoGo (EGNG) paradigm. Maternal depression and anxiety were also examined. Consistent with the literature, this study found evidence for the complex associations between maternal exposure to psychological aggression, maternal emotion regulation and parenting behaviors. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between the accurate discrimination of sad from neutral facial expressions and maternal sensitivity. The accurate discrimination of fearful from neutral facial expressions, however, was associated with less sensitive parenting. Additionally, those mothers who were more impulsive when confronted with sad facial expressions during the EGNG sad emotion “go” task were less sensitive when interacting with their children. This study also found evidence for a significant interaction between maternal exposure to psychological aggression and impulsivity in the EGNG fearful emotion “go” task in the explanation of maternal sensitivity. Specifically, for those adolescent mothers who had experienced psychological aggression, impulsivity when confronted with fearful facial cues on a computerized task was associated with increased maternal sensitivity during dyadic interactions. For those mothers who had not experienced psychological aggression, however, increased impulsivity when confronted with fearful faces on the computerized task was associated with reduced maternal sensitivity. Maternal exposure to psychological aggression was consistently associated with increased hostility with those mothers who had been exposed to psychological aggression evidencing more hostility when interacting with their children. Finally, in optimal conditions on a computerized task (i.e., when confronted with happy faces during the EGNG paradigm) those mothers who were rated as more sensitive during dyadic interactions all responded within approximately the same amount of time to the computerized stimuli. No relationship between maternal sensitivity and mean response time was found in the negatively valenced EGNG conditions. There was not sufficient evidence to suggest that emotion regulation and behavioral impulsivity mediated the relationship between exposure to psychological aggression and parenting behavior. Consistent with the literature, these findings suggest a role for both maternal trauma exposure and regulatory capacities in the explanation of parenting behavior. These findings highlight the need for greater research on these complex and multidetermined relationships, particularly within the highly vulnerable adolescent parent population. Additionally, this study’s findings suggest possible avenues for interventions within this population, highlighting the need to consider the ways in which adolescent mothers’ regulatory capacities may influence their ability to intuit and respond to their children. Directions for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Thesis(M.A. (Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo / Early motherhood has been associated with negative biological and social outcomes in the developing world of the teenage mother and child. The study sought to explore the psychological health of teenage mothers from selected secondary schools in Seshego Township, Limpopo Province. Generally, the study makes use of a comparative design and 120 participants were selected for the study consisting of 60 teenage mothers and 60 teenage non-mothers. The psychological health of teenage mothers was compared to the psychological health of teenage non-mothers. The study made use of the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) with only three demographic questions, which was given to both teenage mothers and teenage non–mothers. The results of the study show that there was no significant difference in the psychological health of teenage mothers and teenage non–mothers. Results also showed that there was no significant difference on the sub-scales of somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and depression. Results of teenage mothers were compared to one another, and this comparison also showed that there was no significant difference within this group. Also results on age, grade and family structure showed no significant difference between the two groups compared to one another. Given the literature that exists worldwide showing that teenage motherhood can have negative impacts on mothers, particularly social and economic, but also physical and psychological health, it is clear that further research in this area needs to be conducted.