Parenting Stress Among Adolescent Mothers: An Integrative Literature Review.
Serena C Flaherty, Lois S Sadler
PMID 35311420WHAT IT FOUND
In some studies, adolescent mothers had high parenting stress when depressive symptoms, low self-efficacy, economic strain, or conflict were present.
Supportive relationships, home visiting, and mental health assessment may help, but intervention effects are not proven.
Key findings
01Depressive symptoms were both a predictor and an outcome of parenting stress.
02Higher maternal self-efficacy and higher parenting competency were associated with lower parenting stress.
03Doula support, a parenting program, and structured home visiting were reported to be associated with lower stress or stress reductions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review was limited to studies that used the Parenting Stress Index, so other measures of parenting stress were not included. The Parenting Stress Index is self-report and may be affected by social desirability bias. Studies used different versions and subscales of the Parenting Stress Index, and not all reported descriptive scores, so findings were hard to compare. Most included studies were descriptive or correlational, so they show associations but cannot prove what causes parenting stress or whether interventions work. Definitions of adolescence varied, and some studies included mothers older than the review's target age, so findings may not apply only to mothers under 19. Three poor-quality studies were removed, so 26 studies remained, and one included study had a sample of 49.
Declared interests
The supplied publication types list NIH extramural research support, and the authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the reviewed programs as proven treatments for parenting stress. Most studies were descriptive or correlational, few were experimental, and the authors say more rigorous intervention research is needed.