Findings, Results, Discussions, and Recommendations

Running head: GUIDED IMAGERY AND PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION

2

Teen Parenting Program

Patrice Scope

SWK/5015

Capella University

Instructor: Adam Quinn

01/30/23

Teen Parenting Program

The social work program has been designed to serve the community by focusing on the problem of early teenage pregnancies. The program aims to provide lessons to adolescent parents on how they should raise their children to prevent them from being influenced by poor parenting. Adolescent parents are often unprepared for the stresses that are accompanied with raising young children (Lewin et al., 2019). The paper will discuss the scope of teen pregnancies, the causes of the problem, and will also provide interventions for the specific problems highlighted. Adolescent parents should be cautious because a lack of proper care of the child from their birth to the early developmental years can lead to a lag in their growth and increase the risk of poor outcomes that can persist into adolescence.

The case study concerns an implemented social work program for teen parents, inclusive of both fathers and mothers and their children. The program was developed due to the stagnation in cases of teen pregnancies in the area over the last decade. The agency is located in an urban area and referrals are expected from the Department of Children and Family Services, other social services agencies in the area, hospitals, and local schools. The program is aimed at increasing teen parenting competence, enhancing development of beliefs aligned with compassion management strategies such as positive reinforcement, increasing knowledge about child development, and reducing teen parents stress levels (Cox et al., 2019). The participants are expected to attend eight week parenting sessions conducted once weekly to maximum benefit from the inventions of the program. The program will cover various topics: compassionate behavior strategies, stress management, effective communication with children, and child development.

Nature of the Problem

The rates of childbearing and adolescent pregnancy have remained high in America for specific ethnicities despite numerous attempts by the government and society through policies and community programs. “In 2019, the birth rates for Hispanic teens and black teens were approximately double the rate of non-Hispanic white teen pregnancies” (Hans & White, 2019). Teens in specific settings are at higher risk of teen pregnancies, for instance individuals living in foster homes. The children of teenage mothers are more prone to having low performances in school. Also, the children are highly likely to be incarcerated in juvenile correctional facilities at adolescent, to give birth as teenagers, to drop out of high-school, or to face unemployment as young adults.

Parents face challenges as their children develop and teenage parents are no exception. Teenage parenting is associated with the risk of inadequate family and community support, school attrition, poor social supports, and development of mental disorders. Moreover, the young parents may lack the appropriate support system and experience to fully comprehend what it means to be a parent. Most teen parents fail to establish a strong relationship during the early childhood of their children which is crucial for their development and health. The bonding created during this period also allows the mother to understand their child better and helps them know how to respond to their needs. Adolescent parents maybe to stressed out trying to figure out how to provide for their children to learn about baby development and behavior (Berry et al., 2022).

Teenage pregnancies have negative impacts on both the young mothers and their children. The children of the adolescent mothers are at higher risk of falling to the same patterns than children of other parents. The children can also develop social impairments, for instance, rebellion, aggression, feelings of inferiority, fearfulness, and impulsive behavior. The children of adolescent parents are more prone to developing deviant behaviors, such as substance abuse and engaging in early sexual activity. Moreover, the low intelligence of adolescent parents contributes to them talking less to their children, which negatively impacts the child and can lead to development of mental illnesses.

Adolescents who have children drop out of primary and secondary schools. Dropping out of school could be because of a combination of several factors, such as, a poor economic background, low intelligence levels, and lack of clear educational goals (Powers et al., 2021). The adolescents often conclude that the only way they could be able to care for their children is by dropping out of school. Failure to complete school to graduate levels hinders them from providing adequate resources to their children. The parents fail to be economically self-sufficient. Hence, the early child bearers become dependent on welfare programs, such as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, and food stamps; increasing the expenditure of major public assistance programs significantly.

Causes of the Problem

Some of the contributing factors leading to high birth rates among teens are social determinants of health, for instance, low levels of income in the family, poor neighborhoods or housing leading to drug use, low social capital, family instability, and low education. The above-mentioned contributing factors are prevalent among communities comprised of certain ethnic or racial populations. Adolescents who are unable to have affordable access to clinical services are more likely to end up pregnant as teenagers. Also, teens who bear children in their adolescent are less likely to complete their education, thus they become dependent on the government funded programs for support.

Adolescents living in poor neighborhoods are more prone to become teenage parents. The children in the poor neighborhoods are often unaware of the resources available to them from the federal and state governments, or from private agencies. For instance, programs that educate adolescent females on sexuality, contraception, and pregnancy. These children also engage in premature sexual intercourse because of the bad habits learnt from their peers. Due to a lack of guidance, the pregnant parent can drop out of school to care and provide for their child, especially if they come from an impoverished home. The inability to sustain the child and them causes the cycle of teen pregnancies to continue to their children. Also, the teen parents are more likely to develop drug abuse problems due to life’s stressors overwhelming them.

Children who are brought up in strict backgrounds by controlling or strict parents tend to take more risks and are prone to being pregnant at an early age. Some children explore their sexuality in unhealthy ways because their parents refuse to talk about sex education in their homes, because of their culture. However, parenting should keep in mind that time changes and that their children might be facing different challenges from them. Hence, the need to educate them about their sexuality early on to prevent them from making poor choices. Parents should be supportive of their children to prevent them from rebelling and engaging in premature sex.

The combination of low intellectual ability and low income levels contribute significantly to teenage pregnancies. The teenagers are often in a position where they compare themselves with their peers who are from well-off families. The children can look for alternative means of acquiring money and may turn to prostitution thus increasing their chances of becoming pregnant at adolescent. The adolescents can easily be demotivated and begin being truant, especially if they lack specific educational goals, and the habit can lead to them dropping out of school. Sexual activity in adolescence is decreased if the individuals are more intelligent or have clear educational goals.

Poor parent-child relationships is also a significant contributor to teen pregnancies. Failure to provide affection to children pushes them to seek it from other individuals, developing unhealthy relationships that can lead to early teen pregnancies. Also, it is the parents’ responsibility to be the first mentor of the child and they are expected to provide them with sexual education or enroll them in community programs that teach teenagers about their sexuality. Failure to teach their children about sexuality leaves them vulnerable and susceptible to manipulation by more experienced individuals, increasing the risk of teenage pregnancies. Moreover, some parents who had children in their adolescence are unaware of how to raise their children right because they lack necessary parenting skills. The children of these parents are at risk of being pregnant in their teens (Harding et al., 2020). Parents who are unable to enroll their children in such classes should utilize community programs, for instance religious programs that teach adolescent how to conduct themselves appropriately and control over their sexual urges.

Intervention

The interventions proposed in this study are aimed at eliminating negative parenting behaviors and reducing repeat pregnancies associated with adolescent parents. Moreover, the program will ensure that the children raised by adolescent parents develop normally. Hence, decreasing the risk of the children adopting deviant behaviors due to poor parenting. The program will also provide support to the teen parents and guide them through the process of parenting while studying, to prevent them from being overwhelmed. This approach will ensure that more adolescent parents gain equal education and employment opportunities to other women. The programs’ interventions are focused on addressing maternal attachment to the infant, parenting behavior, and teaching life skills to enhance the child’s developmental outcomes, while encouraging adolescent self-sufficiency.

The compassionate behavior strategies are aimed at eliminating teen parenting attributes associated with maternal depression and child maltreatment. Teen mothers can at times neglect their children, prioritizing other needs first which negatively affects the mother-child bond. Poor parent-child relationship leads to the child’s developmental issues that may persist into their adolescents, increasing their chances of becoming teen parents. The program will instruct teen parents on how to bond with their baby, know them and their body language, and to talk and play with them when they need it to ensure their children develop normally in their early years.

Stress management sessions are aimed at equipping the teen parents with the necessary coping skills to navigate the harsh realities of life without affecting their children’s development. Teen parenting can be overwhelming for adolescents because they may find it difficult to create time for their child while providing for them and still be expected to complete school. Chronic or routine stress can lead to the development of mental disorders and even physical illnesses that may affect the lives of the parent and child. For instance, chronic stress can lead to a decrease in an individual’s immunity.

Effective communication with children and child development lessons will ensure that the ten parent understands how delicate children are in their early and developmental years. The parents are taught how to strengthen their bond with their children to facilitate for the learning process of the child. Mothers should make time to play with their children and work their schedule around the babies’ cues about when to feed, sleep, and play. Learning about baby behavior and development will equip the teen parents with knowledge that will help them understand what to expect as the baby develops, thereby preventing their children from lagging developmentally. Also, the mothers are taught how to build positive empathic relationships with their children.

The extent to which various factors contribute to child maltreatment is not known. Child maltreatment can be caused by various effects on the parent, for instance, mental illness or history of trauma. The maltreatment of children can also be induced by the fact that adolescent parents are not ready for a parenting role. Hence, it is difficult to develop a standardized session that addresses the above-mentioned concern. Focusing solely on one aspect of teen parenting could narrow the program further, making it inefficient.

Summary

The study provides a unique perspective that combines educating adolescent parents on how to strengthen bonds with their children and how to cope with stress, while ensuring they strive toward adulthood self-sufficiency. The teen parents are able to learn about stress management, child development, effective communication with their children by reading their baby cues, and compassionate behavior to reduce the risk of child maltreatment. Further development should be made by studying how the factors that contribute to increasing the risk of child maltreatment.

Reference

Berry, V., Melendez-Torres, G. J., Axford, N., Axberg, U., de Castro, B. O., Gardner, F., … & Leijten, P. (2022). Does social and economic disadvantage predict lower engagement with parenting interventions? An integrative analysis using individual participant data. Prevention Science, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01404-1

Cox, J. E., Harris, S. K., Conroy, K., Engelhart, T., Vyavaharkar, A., Federico, A., & Woods, E. R. (2019). A parenting and life skills intervention for teen mothers: a randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 143(3). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2303

Hans, S. L., & White, B. A. (2019). Teenage childbearing, reproductive justice, and infant mental health. Infant mental health journal, 40(5), 690-709. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21803

Harding, J. F., Knab, J., Zief, S., Kelly, K., & McCallum, D. (2020). A systematic review of programs to promote aspects of teen parents’ self-sufficiency: Supporting educational outcomes and healthy birth spacing. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 24, 84-104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-019-02854-w

Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., Quinn, D. A., Street, T. M., Schmitz, K., & Beers, L. S. (2019). A primary care intervention to prevent repeat pregnancy among teen mothers. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 56(3), 404-410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.10.015

Powers, M. E., Takagishi, J., Alderman, E. M., Chung, R. J., Grubb, L. K., Lee, J., … & Vanderbilt, D. L. (2021). Care of adolescent parents and their children. Pediatrics, 147(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-050919