Author

Evelyn Peggy

Abstract

Adolescent parenthood has continued to be a national problem. Repeat pregnancy has continued to increase among rural black adolescents. The significance of cultural beliefs and norms and the parental role model assumed by the grandmother post-delivery may be keys to determining successful interventions to break the cycle. The purpose of the study was to determine whether black adolescents utilized the Parental Replacement Role Model or the Parental Supplement Role Model more frequently after delivery of their first child. The sample included 39 black adolescent mothers, age 13 to 18 years, experiencing a repeat pregnancy with at least one living child and currently pregnant. The sample population lived in a three-county area in the rural Mississippi Delta. The Infant Caretaking Questionnaire was used to identify parental roles assumed by the grandmother and utilized by the adolescent after delivery of the first infant. The retrospective data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings confirm that a small percentage (26%) of adolescent mothers utilized the Parental Replacement and Parental Supplement Model. The remaining (74%) utilized another model in which the mothers reported assuming total responsibility for their infants in iii caretaking and nurturing. The researcher concluded that rural adolescent mothers utilized the same parental roles as inner-city adolescents and that rural mothers assume greater responsibility for infant caretaking and nurturing of their infants. Implications for nursing included incorporating services into practices that are directed toward intervening in the teen pregnancy cycle. All nurse clinicians should assess the impact of cultural beliefs and norms for each client and modify the interventions to provide culturally congruent care and treatment. Recommendations for further research include conduction of a longitudinal study to correlate the incidence of repeat pregnancy to parental role models used by adolescents and the development of comprehensive intervention programs for pregnant teens in rural Mississippi.

Degree

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Graduate Nursing

Degree Date

8-1-1993

Publication Number

27919876

First Advisor

Dr. Mary Patricia Curtis

Document Type

Thesis

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Included in

Nursing Commons

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