Factors associated with the demands of adolescent parenting and their relationship to the adolescent parent's adherence to well childcare regimen

Children born to unwed African American adolescents are less likely to be seen by a primary care provider than children of other ethnic groups. This study investigated the relationship of African American adolescent mothers' adherence to the well childcare regimen with variables dealing with their aspirations, social support, demands, and depressive symptoms. A modification of the Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior systemically guided this study. The major hypotheses for this study were that for these young mothers a relationship exists between life course aspirations, social support, everyday demands, and depressive symptoms and further that adolescent mothers with higher life course aspirations, higher levels of social support, lower everyday demands, and fewer depressive symptoms would attend a significantly higher number of well childcare visits and their infants would receive the necessary immunizations.; Twenty-five mother infant pairs were enrolled into the study. They all received well childcare at one of two community agencies. A survey was constructed that included demographic questions, depressive symptom scale, everyday demands questions, social support scale, and life course aspirations questions. Adolescent mothers completed the survey during their clinic visits when they were between 38 and 40 weeks gestations or at the infant's first clinic visit following delivery. The number of well childcare visits and number of immunizations were obtained during a review of the infant's clinic record 8 weeks after birth.; The relationship between adherence to the recommended well childcare regimen and the independent variables life course aspiration, social support, everyday demands, and depressive symptoms was examined using the T-test. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...