Child abuse & neglect
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Child abuse & neglect · Nov 1996
Adolescent mothers and child abuse potential: an evaluation of risk factors.
This research examines maternal and child factors that place adolescent mothers at risk for abusing their children. Using a longitudinal design, relationships among four risk factors (social supports, maternal psychological adjustment, maternal preparation for parenting, and child temperament), maternal psychological predisposition for aggressive coping (perceptions of stress and endorsements of punitive parenting), and maternal abuse potential were examined in a sample of 75 primiparous adolescent mothers and their children. ⋯ Similarly, the effects of child temperament on abuse were mediated by the mother's psychological predisposition for aggressive coping. Implications for designing intervention programs, and identifying at-risk adolescents, were also discussed.