Modeling Parenting Stress Trajectories Among Low-Income Young Mothers Across the Child's Second and Third Years : Factors Accounting for Stability and Change

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Mark Fine, Professor and Chair (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: This study investigated parenting stress trajectories among low-income young mothers and the factors that are associated with change and stability of parenting stress as children aged from 14 to 36 months old. With a sample of 580 young mothers who applied to the Early Head Start Program, growth mixture modeling identified 3 trajectory classes of parenting stress: a chronically high group (7% of the sample), an increasing group (10% of the sample), and a decreasing group (83% of the sample). Maternal personal resources distinguished between the increasing and decreasing classes, whereas maternal personal resources, child characteristics, and contextual influences explained differences between the chronically high and decreasing trajectory classes. Findings suggest that for interventions to be effective, programs need to assess maternal, child, and contextual factors to better address the particular unique needs of young mothers.

Additional Information

Publication
Language: English
Date: 2007
Keywords
adolescent mothers, project head start, parenting stress, low-income families, family pscyhology

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