Critically discuss how we can promote postive outcomes for children with teen parents

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Critically discuss how we can promote positive outcomes for children with teen parents.

The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has gone up according to government statistics in 2004. Teenage mothers face a number of challenges, both psychological and socioeconomic, involving financially being able to look after a baby, continuing her education in order to get employment to support her baby, coping with the stresses and responsibilities of being a mother and bonding with child while having to deal with issues that come with being a teenager. These challenges can affect teenagers parenting abilities and have negative effect on a child’s development. The government has announced many strategies to resolve the problem of teenage pregnancy. However, it is a raising problem and it would be more practical to find ways to improve the negative outcomes on the children of teen mothers by providing help and support during pregnancy and a number of years after birth. This essay will be looking at some of the negative effects on children of teen parents and discussing how to promote positive outcomes.

Pregnant teenagers are more likely to leave education without any qualifications (Molina et al., 2004) which prevents them from getting a job to support their child, become dependent on benefits and live in government funded housing in deprived areas. Being on state benefits and lacking knowledge about cooking may result in teen mother providing nutritionally poor readymade meals for their children and affecting their health. Children of teenage mothers are also more likely to develop behavioral and learning problems, take part in regular smoking and alcohol consumption and be involved in crime (Shaw, Lawlor & Najman, 2006).

Teenagers also have a lack of experience which affects their parenting skills. A study by McClure-Martinez and Cohn (1996) showed that teenagers were less likely to act correctly in dangerous situations compared to adult mothers. This is further supported by previous studies which showed that the children of teenagers are more likely to be ‘at risk’ in dangerous situations (Davie, Hutt, Vincent & Mason, 1984; McCormick, Shapiro & Starfield, 1981). This however might be biased to adult mothers who have experienced children, whereas the teenagers were tested during pregnancy and therefore had none.

Financial instabilities can cause stress and depression which affects teenager’s abilities to cope. Teenage mothers are more likely to suffer from symptoms of depression (Troutman & Cutrona, 1990) and this can cause problems with mother-child interaction and bonding. Trad (1995) argued that teenagers are unable to bond with their child emotionally due to the fact that they themselves are still developing. This can result in an avoidant-insecure attachment which will affect the child’s other relationships in later life.  Park and Waters (1989) reported that insecurely attached children were controlling, unfriendly, less responsive and seemed unhappy while playing at the age of 4. Stress from financial issues can contribute in effecting child abuse which can also lead to more serious consequences such as child mortality. A review by Buchholz and Korn-Bursztyn (1993) showed that teenage parents stressed by financial, emotional and social problems were more likely to abuse and neglect their children.

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However, the problems mentioned so far can be prevented and positive outcomes promoted with the support from social networks. The mother of the teen is the most important person involved in this process. Unger and Cooley (1992) found that grandmother’s help with childcare enabled teenagers to go back to education and eventually get employment. Living with grandmother also promoted better health outcomes in children at 12 months old (Schuster, 1986; as cited in Roye & Balk, 1996). However, arguments between mothers and daughters can create an unstable environment for children (Unger & Cooley, 1992). Alternatively, putting the child into ...

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