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 social support at six weeks and six months postpartum.

DESIGN

A two group comparative study.

SETTING

Maternal child health, immunisation and midwives' clinics in New South Wales, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS

173 adult mothers and 72 adolescent mothers who had experienced a normal pregnancy, labour and delivery and delivered a healthy baby near term.

MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS

Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, Brown's Support Behavior Inventory and a personal information form were used. Irrespective of 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 challenged 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 offering courses and workshops designed to enhance self-esteem and parentcraft may assist mothers to assume baby care responsibilities and increase their satisfaction with support.