The first teenage pregnancy in the family: Does it affect mothers' parenting, attitudes, or mother-adolescent communication?

To understand the consequences of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing for the family, 189 mothers from three types of families were studied: familie s in which all teenage daughters had never been pregnant, families in which only one teenager was currently pregnant, and families in which only one t eenager had delivered a baby within the previous 6 months. In the latter tw o family types, the current pregnancy or childbearing was the first to occu r in the family. Mothers were assessed twice, 13 months apart. Results indi cated that compared with the mothers of never-pregnant teens, the mothers o f parenting teens monitored their children less, expected less of their old er daughters, and were more accepting of teenage childbearing. Across-time analyses showed that, in families in which the teenager was initially pregn ant mothers monitored and communicated less with their other children and w ere more accepting of teenage sex after the older daughter gave birth. In f amilies in which the teenager was initially parenting, mothers perceived mo re difficulty for their teenage daughters and reported being less strict wi th their other children across time.