A model of adolescent parenting: The role of cognitive readiness to parent

Although Belsky's (1984) model of parenting captures much of the variabilit y in adult parenting, it is likely incomplete as an adequate account of ado lescent parenting. To test an expanded model of adolescent parenting, we ga thered multiple measures of four prenatal maternal variables (cognitive rea diness, personal adjustment, intelligence, and social supports) during the last trimester of pregnancy, and two variables when infants were 6 months o f age (perceived child characteristics and parenting). Structural modeling procedures then were used to identify the direct and indirect paths that le d to parenting skill and style in a sample of 135 adolescent mothers and th eir infants. Only 9.6% of the sample was married, and few held stable, mean ingful employment. These variables, as well as the quality of emotional and instrumental support, did not enter into causal networks related to parent ing practices. in contrast, maternal intelligence and personal adjustment i nfluenced cognitive readiness to parent that, in turn, was directly related to parenting as well as to child characteristics at 6 months of age.