Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
J Youth Adolesc. 2020 Jun;49(6):1146-1161. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01232-y. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Young maternal age at birth has been consistently recognized as a factor contributing to externalizing behavior. However, estimates of the magnitude of this association across existing studies are inconsistent. Such inconsistencies cloud the interpretation of the literature and highlight the need for a systematic synthesis of existing empirical evidence. Further, the roles of possible moderators in the association remain to be revealed. Moderation analyses will enhance the field's capacity to evaluate needs and locate a subgroup of children born to teen mothers with particularly heightened vulnerabilities. To address these gaps, the present study had two primary aims. First, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the magnitude of the association between being born to young mothers and children's externalizing behavior across existing studies. Second, moderation meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate whether the influence of being born to teen mothers on children's externalizing behavior is stronger during specific developmental periods, for a specific gender, for a specific race, or across contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates at a societal level. The current study followed the PRISMA guidelines. The search utilized multiple electronic databases including Web of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE through July 2019. Standardized mean difference, Cohen's d, was used as a summary estimate of effect size. A random-effects model was conducted. Moderating effects were evaluated. Twenty-one effect sizes from 18 independent samples (n = 133,585) were included in the meta-analysis. The main meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis suggested a small yet robust association between teenage motherhood and children's externalizing behavior problems. The relevant moderation analyses detected no statistically significant moderating effect for a specific gender, for racial and ethnic minority groups, during a specific developmental period, or across varying contexts. The current meta-analysis findings suggest that the impact of young maternal age on children's externalizing behavior is small, yet independent. Further, such impacts of young maternal age were similar for girls and boys, in different racial and ethnic groups, across developmental periods, and across different contexts with varying teen pregnancy rates. Prevention efforts seeking to curb the emergence of youth's externalizing behavior should focus on parenting teens, regardless of their child's gender, race, age, or contexts. Further, the current findings suggest that prevention strategies for this specific group may benefit from a hybrid approach that combines universal, selective, and indicated prevention strategies.
低龄母亲生育一直被认为是导致外化行为的一个因素。然而，现有研究对这种关联的程度的估计并不一致。这种不一致使得文献的解释变得模糊不清，也凸显了系统综合现有实证证据的必要性。此外，这种关联中可能存在的调节因素的作用仍有待揭示。调节分析将提高该领域评估需求和定位具有特别高脆弱性的青少年母亲所生孩子亚组的能力。为了解决这些差距，本研究有两个主要目的。首先，进行荟萃分析，以量化现有研究中低龄母亲生育与儿童外化行为之间关联的程度。其次，进行调节荟萃分析，以评估青少年母亲生育对儿童外化行为的影响在特定发育阶段是否更强，对于特定性别、特定种族，或者在社会层面青少年怀孕率不同的不同背景下是否更强。本研究遵循 PRISMA 指南。该研究利用了多个电子数据库，包括 Web of Science、ProQuest、PubMed 和 Ovid MEDLINE，检索时间截至 2019 年 7 月。标准化均数差，Cohen's d，被用作效应量的汇总估计。采用随机效应模型进行分析。评估了调节作用。21 个效应量来自 18 个独立样本（n=133585）被纳入荟萃分析。主要荟萃分析和敏感性分析表明，青少年母亲生育与儿童外化行为问题之间存在着虽小但稳健的关联。相关的调节分析未检测到特定性别、少数族裔群体、特定发育阶段或不同背景下的统计学上显著的调节作用。本荟萃分析的结果表明，低龄母亲生育对儿童外化行为的影响虽然很小，但却是独立的。此外，低龄母亲生育对男孩和女孩的影响相似，在不同的种族和民族群体中，在不同的发育阶段，以及在不同的青少年怀孕率不同的背景下都是如此。旨在遏制青少年外化行为出现的预防措施应侧重于青少年父母，而不论其子女的性别、种族、年龄或所处背景如何。此外，目前的研究结果表明，针对这一特定群体的预防策略可能受益于一种混合方法，将普遍、选择性和有针对性的预防策略结合起来。
