A comparison of adult and teenage mother's self-esteem and satisfaction with social support

Objective: to investigate the similarities and differences between teenage and adult mothers and their level of self-esteem and satisfaction with soci al support at six weeks and six months postpartum. Design: a two group comparative study, Setting: maternal child health, immunisation and midwives' clinics in New S outh Wales, Australia. Participants: 173 adult mothers and 72 adolescent mothers who had experienc ed a normal pregnancy, labour and delivery and delivered a healthy baby nea r term. Measurements and findings: Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, Brown's Support B ehavior Inventory and a personal information form were used. Irrespective o f age, breast-feeding rates and satisfaction with social support decreased significantly during the early months postpartum Furthermore, a significant inverse relationship was noted between maternal age and satisfaction with support and a positive relationship was identified between maternal age and self-esteem. Key conclusions and clinical implications: Maternal self-esteem may be chal lenged by the demands of motherhood and dissatisfaction with social support could contribute to the decline in breast-feeding practices, Developing a postnatal support plan, including fathers in education programmes and offer ing courses and workshops designed to enhance self-esteem and parentcraft m ay assist mothers to assume baby care responsibilities and increase their s atisfaction with support. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.