Externalizing Behavior Problems in Offspring of Teen Mothers: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Young maternal age at birth has been consistently recognized as a factor contributing to externalizing behavior. However, estimates of the magnitude of this association across existing studies are inconsistent. Such inconsistencies cloud the interpretation of the literature and highlight the need for a systematic synthesis of existing empirical evidence. Further, the roles of possible moderators in the association remain to be revealed. Moderation analyses will enhance the field’s capacity to evaluate needs and locate a subgroup of children born to teen mothers with particularly heightened vulnerabilities. To address these gaps, the present study had two primary aims. First, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the magnitude of the association between being born to young mothers and children’s externalizing behavior across existing studies. Second, moderation meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate whether the influence of being born to teen mothers on children’s externalizing behavior is stronger during specific developmental periods, for a specific gender, for a specific race, or across contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates at a societal level. The current study followed the PRISMA guidelines. The search utilized multiple electronic databases including Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE through July 2019. Standardized mean difference, Cohen’s d , was used as a summary estimate of effect size. A random-effects model was conducted. Moderating effects were evaluated. Twenty-one effect sizes from 18 independent samples ( n = 133,585) were included in the meta-analysis. The main meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis suggested a small yet robust association between teenage motherhood and children’s externalizing behavior problems. The relevant moderation analyses detected no statistically significant moderating effect for a specific gender, for racial and ethnic minority groups, during a specific developmental period, or across varying contexts. The current meta-analysis findings suggest that the impact of young maternal age on children’s externalizing behavior is small, yet independent. Further, such impacts of young maternal age were similar for girls and boys, in different racial and ethnic groups, across developmental periods, and across different contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates. Prevention efforts seeking to curb the emergence of youth’s externalizing behavior should focus on parenting teens, regardless of their child’s gender, race, age, or contexts. Further, the current findings suggest that prevention strategies for this specific group may benefit from a hybrid approach that combines universal, selective, and indicated prevention strategies.

Concomitant Trajectories of Internalising, Externalising, and Peer Problems Across Childhood: a Person-centered Approach

“…Three factors were specific to group membership and included young maternal age (group 4), single parents and lower social class (group 5). Perhaps most surprising is young maternal age not increasing the risk of membership in group 6 (Lee et al, 2020 ). Given the low number of mothers under 21 years of age in this sample, replication is however needed.…”

Mexican-origin 5-year-old children’s ethnic-racial identity centrality and attitudes predicting social functioning.

“…Testing these associations is especially important among children born to adolescent mothers because children born to teen mothers are at risk for poorer social functioning and outcomes (Lee et al, 2020). As young mothers navigate pregnancy and parenting during adolescence, they may rely on the broader family context (e.g., parents, aunts) for support (Cabrera et al, 2013; Derlan et al, 2019), thereby providing greater opportunities for children to develop their ERI and social skills.…”

“…Given the importance of children's early social development to later outcomes, it is important to understand factors that may be related to social functioning in early childhood, such as ERI development. It is especially important to examine these links with adaptive development among children at risk for maladaptive outcomes, such as children born to adolescent mothers (Lee et al, 2020). Thus, among families that experienced pregnancy during adolescence, the present study examined whether 5-year-old children's ERI (i.e., positive attitudes, negative attitudes, and centrality) was linked to social functioning (i.e., children's interactive, disruptive, and disconnected play with peers, which reflect the degree to which their emergent relationships with peers are comprised of positive, negative or withdrawn behaviors, respectively; their externalizing behaviors; and their observed cooperation and frustration with adults).…”

Promoting mother‐infant relationships and underlying neural correlates: Results from a randomized controlled trial of a home‐visiting program for adolescent mothers in Brazil

“…Parenthood disrupts typical emotional and cognitive development in adolescence, which can impair the emergence of reflective and responsive parenting skills necessary to foster secure parent‐infant relationships (Flaherty & Sadler, 2011 ). Being born to an adolescent mother is associated with lower cognitive ability and elevated behavioral problems in childhood (Lee et al., 2020 ; Morinis et al., 2013 ), which persist into adolescence and adulthood resulting in increased systemic and mental health disorders, welfare dependency, lower income, and higher criminality (Jaffee et al., 2001 ; Shaw et al., 2006 ). These outcomes may occur because of the lower quality of maternal care that adolescent mothers provide, including lower tendency to touch, call, smile at, and accept their child's emotions (Firk et al., 2018 ).…”