When and How Adolescent Childbearing Intersects High School: Discontinuous Trajectories of Young Mothers' School Attendance

• In Event: 65.081 - Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: 65.081-5 - Division E: Human Development Session 2

Abstract

The present study focuses on the intersection of adolescent childbearing and school engagement as a sensitive juncture in the educational pathways of young mothers. In a sample of 377 young mothers, longitudinal data were used to identify the relative timing of schooling outcomes and adolescent parenting onset, characterize young mothers’ school attendance over time, and assess the extent to which ecological supports influence mothers’ school engagement. Findings reveal that becoming a mother evidenced a positive shift in school attendance trajectories for a majority of the sample and that twice as many mothers in the sample obtain a diploma than drop out. These results are considered in the context of school policy and the supportive role of early parenting programs.

Authors

• Mariah M. Contreras, Tufts University

• Jayanthi Mistry, Tufts University