Pathways toward educational achievement among African American and Puerto Ricanadolescent mothers: Reexamining the role of social support from families

Abstract

Although a majority of adolescent mothers are graduating from high school, the processesthat enhance the educational attainment of adolescent mothers are not well understood. With asample of 93 African American and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers, we assessed the effects ofmaterial support from family (i.e., child care assistance from grandmother and residence withgrandmother) and emotional support from family over and above pre- and postpregnancy riskfactors (i.e., maternal age at first birth, delayed grade placement before pregnancy, ethnicity,depressive symptoms, stressful life events, and repeat pregnancy) during the first year postpartumon educational attainment at 6 years postpartum. Significant contributors to the explainedvariance in educational attainment included: delayed grade placement before pregnancy, maternalage at first birth, depressive symptoms, emotional support from family, and residence withgrandmother. Unexpectedly, higher perceived emotional support from family and living withgrandmother predicted lower educational attainment. Post hoc analysis of qualitative datasuggested reasons for these latter findings and point to the need to reconceptualize and broadenthe elements of social support that constitute protective factors for adolescent mothers.