This qualitative study sought to understand food acquisition behaviors and environmental factors that influence those behaviors among women in a low-income African American community with limited food resources. We drew upon in-depth interviews with 30 women ages 21 to 45 recruited from a community health center in Chicago, Illinois. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Emergent themes revealed that women identified multiple environmental barriers—material, economic, and social-interactional—to acquiring food in an acceptable setting. In response, they engaged in several adaptive strategies to manage or alter these challenges including optimizing, settling, being proactive, and advocating. These findings indicate that efforts to improve neighborhood food environments should address not only food availability and prices, but also the physical and social environments of stores as well.
Social and cultural factors influence the experience of fatherhood. This descriptive focus-group study describes the lived experience of fatherhood from the perspectives of 5 unmarried, low-income, African American adolescent fathers in a Midwestern urban area. Naturalistic inquiry approach guided the study. Seven themes of fatherhood emerged: barriers to fatherhood, value of fatherhood, introduction to fatherhood, competencies of fatherhood, role-set relationships, social norms of fatherhood, and father-child contact. This study suggests that nurses should support the involvement of adolescent fathers with their children. Future study may determine the influence of adult female family members on the decisions of adolescent fathers to remain involved with their children.
Accurate information concerning teen parents' knowledge of their children's development and their expectations for paternal involvement becomes increasingly important as efforts increase to promote involvement of unmarried fathers with their children. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess differences in the knowledge and perceptions of normal child development, and expectations for paternal responsibilities between unmarried, low-income African American and Mexican American adolescent mothers and their males partners. Seven unmarried adolescent mothers participated in a focus group interview held at a family service agency in the Midwest. Afterward, their male partners and reported fathers of their babies, participated in a separate focus group interview The mean age of the adolescent mother participants was 16.7 years, the mean age of their partners was 19.3 years. Data were analyzed using a tape-based analysis method. A number of differences were identified between the perceptions of the adolescent mothers and young fathers including their level of child development knowledge, context for selecting physical methods of discipline, expectations for paternal role behaviors, and feelings about child support payments and establishing legal paternity. The study findings may help health care providers develop more effective prenatal and parenting educational experiences for adolescent parents.
Objective
This study examined interactions between adolescent fathers and health care professionals (HCPS) from the perspectives of the families of the adolescent fathers during pregnancy and early post partum.
Design
Data were from the prenatal and 1-month data points of a larger longitudinal qualitative case study design examining paternal involvement. A purposive sample of 25 sets of unmarried, low-income African American adolescent fathers, adolescent mothers and at least one of each of their parents were individually interviewed at 1, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after birth using a semi-structured interview guide. Data were analyzed using content analysis methods.
Setting
Approximately 90% were interviewed in their homes.
Participants
Annual household incomes were between $0 – $28K (M = $14,661). The 111 participants included 25 sets of adolescent parents, 50 grandmothers and 11 grandfathers. Approximately 75% of the adolescent fathers were 17 and 19 years of age.
Results
Supportive (information, emotional and material support), distancing and neutralizing interactions between HCPs and adolescent fathers were identified.
Conclusions
Although most interactions were perceived as supportive, distancing and neutralizing interactions could potentially have negative long-term effects for these vulnerable families and contribute to disparities in health care. Nurses may be important resources for these new fathers.
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