Assessing Variations in Developmental Outcomes Among Teenage Offspring of Teen Mothers: Maternal Life Course Correlates.

This study investigated potential heterogeneity in development among offspring (age 17) of teen mothers and maternal life course as correlates of variation. Using latent class analysis, subgroups of developmental outcomes were identified. Maternal standing in two life course realms (i.e., socioeconomic and domestic) was considered as a potential explanation for heterogeneity in offspring's development. Offspring reported on measures assessing their psychological, academic, and behavioral development. Teen mothers reported on measures of life course realms. Three subgroups of developmental outcomes were identified: on track (52%), at risk (37%), and troubled (11%). Findings suggest that economic hardship and number of pregnancies among teen mothers distinguish developmental patterns among teenage offspring, whereas teen mothers' educational attainment and marital status do not.

Predicting variation in the life course of adolescent mothers as they enter adulthood.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to identify adolescent risk factors that can be used to predict life course pathways (normative, problem-prone, and psychologically vulnerable) in the transition from adolescence to young adulthood in a sample of adolescent mothers. In addition, a cumulative risk index is assessed for its ability to distinguish between the life-course pathways as a potential assessment tool for service providers. METHODS: This prospective longitudinal study is based on a diverse sample of adolescent mothers in the Northwest. Data have been collected from pregnancy through adulthood. Five risk factors were used (individually and in a cumulative risk index) to predict young mothers' life course pathways from age 17 through 23 years. RESULTS: A multinomial logistic regression indicated that, relative to the normative group, the problem-prone group had significantly greater odds of having a history of school problems, delinquency, and hard substance use. The psychologically vulnerable group had significantly greater odds of mental health problems, hard substance use, and marginally more delinquency. Importantly, the cumulative risk index (the sum of the five risk factors) predicted the patterns of transition into adulthood and demonstrated significant sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing those in the normative pathway from those in either the problem-prone or psychologically vulnerable pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that specific risk factors assessed at pregnancy can differentiate among adolescent mothers who experience varying levels of success in their transition into early adulthood. The cumulative risk index demonstrates applied utility as a risk assessment tool capable of distinguishing among life-course pathways.

Alcohol use among adolescent mothers: heterogeneity in growth curves, predictors, and outcomes of alcohol use over time.

This paper examines patterns of alcohol use over a 10-year period in a sample of adolescent mothers and includes both predictors and outcomes of young mothers' alcohol use patterns over time. This study used mixture modeling to identify latent trajectory classes based on alcohol consumption over 10 years. Results indicate that there is significant heterogeneity in alcohol use trajectories of adolescent mothers during the transition from adolescence to adulthood as well as significant predictors and outcomes that vary by latent class trajectory. Specifically, measures of the consumption of alcohol by both quantity and frequency yielded multiple latent trajectory classes. Alcohol quantity measures yielded a two-class model with higher and lower quantity users. Age at first drink significantly differentiated between the two classes indicating that the younger the respondent was, the more likely she belonged to the higher quantity user class. In addition, members of the higher quantity class had significantly more negative outcomes in adulthood. The second measure of alcohol consumption, alcohol frequency, yielded a four-class solution consisting of low-level users, early decliners, late decliners, and increasers. As with alcohol quantity, age at first drink significantly differentiated between classes, as did age at first birth, in the expected direction. Similarly, two classes with the greatest growth and patterns of use over time, late decliners and increasers, had significantly worse outcomes in adulthood. The results suggest that identifying underlying heterogeneity in alcohol use can be informative with regard to both predictors and outcomes for young women who were adolescent mothers. Results suggest that there are possible higher order factors that can account for the results of this study.

Identifying and Predicting Offending Trajectories among Poor Children.

Using data from the Seattle Social Development Project, we identify childhood predictors of offending trajectories among poor children. Five trajectories are identified: nonoffenders, late onsetters, desisters, escalators, and chronic offenders. Among initial nonoffenders, late onsetters are distinguished from nonoffenders by early alcohol drinking. Among youths already delinquent at age 13, escalators are distinguished from desisters by poor family management, family conflict, association with antisocial peers, the presence of troubled children in their neighborhoods, and drug availability. In contrast to prior findings for a general urban sample, family factors significantly predict desistance from offending by age 18 in children from low-income families.

Preventing Substance Abuse Among American-Indian Adolescents: A Bicultural Competence Skills Approach.

Tobacco, alcohol, and drug use are problems for American-Indian people. We reviewed these problems and the explanations for them and described a bicultural competence skills approach for preventing substance abuse with American-Indian adolescents. Data from a study of that approach suggest its efficacy with American-Indian youth. At posttest and a 6-month follow-up, American-Indian subjects who received preventive intervention based on bicultural competence skills concepts improved more than did American-Indian subjects in a no-intervention control condition on measures of substance-use knowledge, attitudes, and interactive skills, and on self-reported rates of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Our findings have implications for future substance-abuse prevention research with American-Indian people.

Preventing unwanted adolescent pregnancy: a cognitive-behavioral approach.

Teenage pregnancy is a growing social problem in the United States. Past interventive failures and current research suggest new directions for primary prevention. A comprehensive prevention program is outlined, and training techniques based on a cognitive-behavioral approach are proposed to help adolescents acquire skills necessary to avoid unwanted pregnancies.