Poster #63 - The Role of Parenting Stress in Young Mothers

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

Introduction: The transition to parenthood during adolescence, a developmental period less typical for childbearing than adulthood, can be especially stressful for young mothers, who often have to balance several roles, including school, work, relationships, and newfound caretaking responsibilities (Florsheim et al., 2003; Herrman et al., 2019) as well as societal norms about when is the correct time to give birth (Wood & Barter, 2015). Young mothers are also at increased risk of mental health concerns compared to women who delay childbearing (Xavier et al., 2018). For mothers who have a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), their sense of self-esteem in their mothering abilities could be depleted (Lucas et al., 2019). Given that parenting stress may be especially salient for the self-esteem of mothers with more exposure to ACEs (Fang et al., 2021; Lotto et al., 2021), we assessed whether parenting stress moderated the relationship between ACEs history and maternal self-esteem among young mothers. We hypothesized that the association between ACEs and maternal self-esteem would be moderated by level of parenting stress, in that participants who reported more parenting stress would have a stronger association between ACEs and self-esteem compared with participants who reported lower levels of parenting stress.

Methods: Young mothers (N=148, Mage=23) between the ages of 15-25 and living with at least one biological child were eligible to complete an online survey about their motherhood experiences. Participants (94% female, 55% white, 33% Hispanic or Latino, 40% employed full time, 41% enrolled in a 4-year college, 63% had household income under $45,000) were recruited from ambulatory medical clinics, community-based organizations, and culturally inclusive social media ads within suburban and urban areas in southern New Jersey. Maternal self-esteem was measured with the Maternal Self Report Inventory (MSRI; Shea & Tronick, 1988) and ACEs history was measured with the Adapted Philadelphia Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (PHL ACEs; Cronholm et al., 2015). The Parental Stress Scale (PSS; Berry & Jones, 1995) assessed parenting stress.

Results: Parenting stress levels ranged from 20 to 67 (M=43, SD=10), suggesting moderate levels of parental stress. Maternal self-esteem scores ranged from 42 to 129 (M=98, SD=19), indicating high levels of self-esteem. Most young mothers endorsed a high ACE score (M=5, SD=4), with scores ranging from 0 to 14. Forty-five percent of the variance of maternal self-esteem was explained by parenting stress, F(3, 144) = 39, p < .001, R2 = 45. Higher parenting stress was associated with lower maternal self-esteem, b = -1.04, t(148) = -5.35, p = .00. Yet, prior ACEs exposure was not related to parenting stress, b = -.03, t(148) = -1.07, p = .28 nor maternal self-esteem, b = 1.62, t(148) = 1.14, p = .25.

Conclusions: Greater levels of parenting stress were associated with lower levels of maternal self-esteem among young mothers. This finding corroborates the salience of stress for young mothers as they try to navigate a developmental mismatch between adolescence and parenthood. Future research should continue to explore how young mothers’ may be negatively influenced by high parenting stress.

Authors

• Lauren Catherine Wallace, Rowan University
  Presenting Author

• Meredith Jones

• Nicole Vaughn