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Title: Maternal Youth or Family Background? Preliminary Findings on the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Geronimus, Arline T. Korenman, Sanders D. |
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Maternal Youth or Family Background? Preliminary Findings on the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers Research Report No 91-204. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, March 1991. Also: http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs.shtml?ID=33489 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Birth Outcomes; Birthweight; Breastfeeding; Childbearing, Adolescent; Health Factors; Household Composition; Mothers, Behavior; Pre-natal Care/Exposure; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pre/post Natal Health Care; Siblings Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. The health disadvantages of infants with teen mothers are well documented, but the causal mechanisms that mediate associations have not been clearly demonstrated. An important consideration is often overlooked: teenage mothers come disproportionately from disadvantaged and minority populations. Observed differences in infant health between teen mothers and women who postpone childbearing may reflect unmeasured socioeconomic background factors, factors that precede the first pregnancy, rather than the effects of maternal age. Data from the NLSY is analyzed and new estimates of the relationship between maternal age and low birth weight, preterm birth indicators of prenatal care utilization, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and well-child visits are presented. Pre-pregnancy family background differences between teen and older mothers is controlled by comparing sisters who experienced their first births at different ages. Findings suggest that family background characteristics of mothers, factors that precede their childbearing years, can account for many of the health disadvantages of infant with teenage mothers. For both blacks and whites, sisters comparisons suggested a less adverse effect of teen childbearing than suggested by cross-sectional comparisons. For all family and maternal age groups, absolute levels of poor birth outcomes and inadequate well-child visits were higher for blacks; those for unhealthy behaviors and breastfeeding were markedly lower for blacks. These findings suggest that the processes leading to poor birth outcomes for teen mothers are complex. Theoretical, clinical, programmatic and policy implications are discussed. |
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Bibliography Citation
Geronimus, Arline T. and Sanders D. Korenman. Maternal Youth or Family Background? Preliminary Findings on the Health Disadvantages of Infants with Teenage Mothers. Research Report No 91-204. Ann Arbor, MI: Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, March 1991.. |