The preschool home literacy environment provided by teenage mothers

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is an issue receiving a growing amount of attention in the United States, with approximately one million children born to teenage mothers annually. Teen mothers tend to function less effectively in numerous realms than their peers who delay child-rearing, and the children of teen mothers are at greater risk of school failure. In the present study we surveyed 493 mothers (22% teen mothers) in order to compare the home literacy environments provided to preschoolers by teenage versus non-teenage mothers. In general, the teen mothers provided a home literacy environment that afforded their children fewer literacy experiences. The implications of these findings for the development of oral language and early reading-related skills are discussed.

The Physical and Mental Health of Off-Reserve First Nations Children of Teen Mothers

“…These have included living in neighborhoods that are less safe, poorer housing conditions, and more limited access to resources in terms of health, education, recreation, and employment opportunities (Kohen, Brooks-Gunn, Leventhal, & Hertzman, 2002;Sampson, Morenoff, & Gannon-Rowley, 2002), family stress and poor mental health (Hill & Herman-Stahl, 2002;Kohen, Leventhal, Dahinten, & McIntosh, 2008;McLoyd, 1998;Xue, Leventhal, Brooks-Gunn, & Earls, 2005) , as well as differences in parenting styles, behaviours, and the types of activities in and outside of the home (Edwards & Bromfield, 2009;Hill & Herman-Stahl, 2002;McLoyd, 1998;Vaden-Kiernan et al, 2010). Lower levels of education, in particular, may be associated with different parenting behaviors, including less language use and fewer literacy activities (reading books, teaching, counting, storytelling) (Burgess, 2005). This suggests that living in conditions of socio-economic disadvantage may have far-reaching consequences for mothers and their children.…”

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children’s Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers

“…The availability of these literacy materials may engage children in language-enriched activities that promote their expressive and receptive language abilities (Burgess, 2005; Frijters et al, 2000). Moreover, language-supportive activities, such as book reading, are more likely to occur in homes that contain children's books (Hess & Holloway, 1984).…”

Modeling multiple risks during infancy to predict quality of the caregiving environment: Contributions of a person-centered approach

“…For example, lower maternal education, lower reading ability and being a teen mother has been linked to lower quality caregiving environments (Baharudin & Lister, 1998; Burgess, 2005). In general, demographically disadvantaged mothers are more likely to lack essential child development knowledge and parenting skills, live in poorer quality neighborhoods, and have poorer quality interactions with their children (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1986; McAnarney, Lawrence, Ricciuti, Polley, & Szilagyi, 1986; McGroder, 2000; Osofsky, Hann, & Peebles, 1993).…”