Social support and adjustment among Puerto Rican adolescent mothers: The moderating effect of acculturation.

Abstract

Associations between grandmother and partner involvement and adjustment were examined among 61 Puerto Rican adolescent mothers. Results indicated that associations between grandmother involvement and adjustment were moderated by the adolescents' level of acculturation. Greater support was related to less symptomatology and parenting stress when acculturation scores were low but to more symptomatology and parenting stress when acculturation scores were high. Social support from partners was related to less symptomatology (but not parenting stress). Although coresidence with a partner was related to greater symptomatology, a significant interaction effect revealed that coresidence was associated with greater symptomatology mainly when mothers perceived their partners as providing low levels of support. Results are discussed in light of Latino cultural values and normative developmental issues. Implications for intervention strategies are also discussed.Social support has been proposed as an important positive influence on psychological adjustment and parenting competence, especially for those parenting under conditions of high stress or social risk, such as young minority mothers (Wilcox, 1981). For adolescent mothers, research has identified both their mothers ("grandmothers") and their partners as important potential sources of support (de Anda, 1984;Flaherty, Facteau, & Garver, 1991). However, research examining the role of partner and

The effect of acculturation and social support on change in mental health among young immigrants

“…The results contradicted prior assumptions that acculturation, in terms of host culture competence, should disrupt ethnic sources of social support (Contreras et al, 1999;Elder et al, 2000;Orshan, 1996Orshan, , 1999. The correlation between host competence and all sources of support was in the positive direction, if not always significant.…”

Psychological adjustment among young Puerto Rican mothers: Perceived partner support and the moderating role of Latino cultural orientation.

“…This finding corroborated those of other studies showing a substantial proportion of young Latina mothers are engaged in fairly committed relationships during the postpartum years (Contreras, López et al, 1999; Moore et al, 2007). As expected, among mothers with a partner, those with a stronger Latino cultural orientation were more likely to be married, to reside with their partners, and to be in a relationship with her child’s father.…”

“…In our study, perceived partner support emerged as a unique predictor of both fewer depressive symptoms and less parenting stress, after accounting for perceived support from all others in the mothers’ social network. This finding adds to the scant literature pointing to partner support as a resource that can promote the psychological adjustment of young Puerto Rican mothers during the postpartum period (Contreras, Lopez et al, 1999; Leadbeater & Linares, 1992). The unique contribution of partner support is also in line with findings for adult parents, which suggest that during the postpartum years the support mothers perceive from partner support is especially protective for their psychological well-being (Tanner Stapleton et al, 2012).…”

The influence of cultural orientation on associations between Puerto Rican adolescent mothers’ parenting and toddler compliance and defiance.

“…The life stress score was computed by totaling the weighted scores (1 = somewhat negative; 2 = extremely negative) for the events experienced as negative with higher scores reflecting greater stress. This measure has demonstrated validity in samples of African American and Latina adolescent mothers (Contreras, Lopez, Rivera-Mosquera, Raymond-Smith, & Rothstein, 1999; Rhodes et al, 1992). …”