Teenage and older mothers and their infants: a descriptive comparison.

A multivariate comparison of the childbearing and childbearing experiences of teenage and older mothers was undertaken to investigate factors assumed to be responsible for developmental deficits experienced by children born to teenage mothers. The two groups of mothers and infants were compared on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, pregnancy and delivery experiences, neonatal status, maternal attitudes, infant temperament, and mother-infant interaction variables. The two groups were found to be quite similar on most of the variables studied. The present findings challenge much of the extant literature on teenage pregnancy and point out the need for a more detailed and objective examination of teenage childbearing and childbearing.