Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
Italy has experienced a recent surge in immigration, which has led to an increase in the country’s birth rate. Many immigrant mothers are adolescent parents. 30 adolescent mothers (17 recent immigrants and 13 adolescents of Italian descent) completed measures of adolescent
self-development and motherhood, perceived availability and satisfaction with social support, and emotional and behavioral characteristic of their children. Findings suggest that immigrant teen mothers show more difficulties related to parenting than do Italian born teen mothers. In particular, immigrant teen mothers report lower levels of social support satisfaction and availability, higher levels of parent–child dysfunction, and experience motherhood and child behavior as more problematic. The findings highlight
and confirm the need for well-designed, specific supportive services for adolescent immigrant mothers.
Introduction
Recent research suggests that, contrary to popular belief, migration does not necessarily lead to poor develop-
mental adaptation [1]. The recurrent finding that immigrant adolescents, despite a lower socioeconomic status,
perform as well as or better than their native counterparts on many measures of adaptation has been labeled
the ‘‘immigrant paradox’’. This phenomenon is well documented in North America and, while it has not been studied explicitly in adolescent mothers, there is reason to believe that it equally applies to that group of young immigrants [2]. However, there are currently no studies that document the existence of such a paradox in an Italian context. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
In Italy a different pattern characterizes young immigrant women’s health, particularly when it comes to
pregnancy and birth. National surveys have documented significant differences between native and immigrant populations regarding the access to assistance programs, the rate of preterm children and low birth weight, the incidence of neonatal mortality/or perinatal complications.
On these dimensions, especially adolescent immigrant women’s conditions are significantly worse than for their Italian-born counterparts [3].
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Although healthcare programs are available to them, many immigrant adolescent mothers do not access these services for their infants and children on a continual basis, or miss scheduled follow-up appointments, because their status may be illegal, and they fear deportation. The low socioeconomic status of this population impacts many features of parenting, with repercussions from high risk births of perinatal complications, subsequent child health, and socio-emotional problems and, not least, difficulties in the parent–child relationship [3].
Italian research on adolescent immigrant mothers is
scarce, which is problematic as the characteristics of this
group in Western Europe are largely incomparable to those
of the more studied minority adolescents, including young immigrant parents, in the US. Furthermore, to date, no study has compared Italian born and immigrant adolescent
G. Riccio E. Baumgartner F. Laghi (&)
Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza,
University of Rome, Via dei Marsi, 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
e-mail: fiorenzo.laghi@uniroma1.it
Y. Bohr D. Kanter
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada
J Immigrant Minority Health (2014) 16:321–325
DOI 10.1007/s10903-012-9726-z
mothers, indicating a gap in our knowledge about this
potentially highly vulnerable group and their adaptation to
the Italian context. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
The current study will focus on the experience of parenting, social support, and child behaviour problems in
adolescent immigrant parents compared to their Italian
born counterparts. Research has indicated that these three
areas are of concern for both adolescent and immigrant
parents. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.The responsibility of caring for an infant may be more taxing in adolescence because the young mother has
not yet reached psychological maturity, nor completed her
own process of separation and-individuation [3]. For
example, teen mothers in general tend to have lower levels
of maternal social support [4, 5] and report more negative
mother–child interactions [6] than older parents. Recent
findings show that social support plays a critical role in
adolescent mothers’ adjustment, especially in the case of
low-income or minority populations [7, 8]. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.These young mothers have been found to be more likely to experience
unstable relationships with romantic partners, as well as
difficulties with friends and family [9]. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
This study is the first to investigate the experience of
parenting among adolescent immigrant mothers living in Italy, as compared with that of their Italian born counter- parts. Given the scarcity of earlier studies no specific hypotheses were advanced.
Methods
Participants
The participants, 30 adolescent mother–child dyads (M
age: 18.3; DS = .48), were recruited during a 20-month
post-natal checkup at the pediatric outpatient clinic at a
major hospital facility in Rome, Italy. Of these, 17 mothers were recent immigrants, and 13 were of Italian descent.
The mean age of the immigrant mothers at time of
migration was 15.8 years (SD = 1.58 years). At data collection, the immigrant teen mothers had been residing in
Italy for an average of 3.5 years (SD = 1.4 years), having
immigrated from three regions: Eastern Europe (N = 13);
South America (N = 3), and Africa (N = 1). The average
maternal age at first pregnancy was 16.22 years (SD = .66)
for immigrants, and 16.33 (SD = 1.77) for Italian born
adolescents. Inclusion criteria focused on first-time mothers. The average age of the children was 23 months
(SD = .84); 13 were male, and 17 were female. A series of
t tests did not reveal differences between native Italian and
immigrant adolescents in: SES (t(28) = 1.45, p = .22);
age at first pregnancy (t(28) = 1.68, p = .36); or years of
schooling (M = 8.23, SD = .34; t(28) = 1.24, p = .56). Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
Data Collection
Interviews were conducted at the hospital by a female
doctoral student in a quiet room with the presence of a
cultural mediator. Participants were advised that the
interviews were voluntary; that responses were anonymous
and confidential, and that participants could ask for the
intervention of the cultural mediator if needed. Interviews
lasted approximately 2 h. The research protocol was
reviewed and approved by the Ethics Commission of the
Department of Developmental and Social Psychology of
Sapienza, University of Rome. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
Measures
Demographics
A standard information form was used to collect demo-
graphic information such as age, educational history,
marital status, and receipt of public assistance. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
The Teen Mother Interview
Section I: Adolescent self-development and motherhood.
A standardized interview [10] was used to explore ado-
lescent perceptions of themselves, their children, and their
mothering roles. Two domains from this interview were
evaluated using Flanagan et al.’s criteria [11]: (A) Self-
development and (B) Motherhood. The first domain
included the following two indicators: (A1) Description of
self (e.g. What’s your greatest strength as a person?) and
(A2) Discussion of goal-behavior (e.g. Do you see school
(or work) in your future?). The second domain was com-
posed of three indicators: (B1) Discussion of how life had
changed since the birth (e.g.Have you had any experiences
in your life that you feel may influence how you raise your
baby?), (B2) Description of the experience of mothering
(e.g. What can you tell us about being a young parent, and
a teen at the same time?) and (B3) Descriptions of the
parent–child (e.g. Can you tell me about your relationship
with your baby?). All questions were read to the partici-
pants and responses were recorded verbatim. Interviews
were audiotaped, and tapes were transcribed. For each of
the five indicators, we assessed the developmental complexity on a five-point scale for the level of, ranging from
1 = least mature to 5 = most mature as per Flanagan et al.
[11]. Responses were scored independently by two trained
coders who had taken part in 30 h of training on the coding
of qualitative interviews, and who were blind to the
research’s aims and to the ethnicity of participants. Reliability for two coders was calculated by correlating their
scores on five questions for each interview. Range reliability was .82–.86, calculated using the Spearman Brown
322 J Immigrant Minority Health (2014) 16:321–325
correction formula. Disagreements were resolved by conferencing. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
The Teen Mother Interview
Section II: Social Support. The second part of the Teen
Mother Interview [10] was used to assess social support.
Questions regarding networks of social support were coded using subscale categories described by Gee and Rhodes [5]:
(1) Social participation (e.g. Who do you get together with to have fun and relax); (2) Cognitive guidance (e.g. Who do you turn to guide your understanding on how to do something); (3) Positive feedback (e.g. Who provides positive reinforcement/lets you know they like your ideas);
(4) Tangible assistance (e.g. Who would lend you some-
thing or pitch into help); (5) Emotional support (e.g. Who
can you talk to about what’s worrying you); (6) Pregnancy related support (e.g. Who was there for you during your pregnancy); (7) Childcare support (Who is available to look after your child). In accordance with Gee and Rhodes [5], for each of these categories the level of social support was determined based on two criteria: perceived avail-
ability of support and satisfaction with support. For perceived availability of each type of support, no limits were
set on the number of individuals who could be nominated.
A summative perceived availability of support score was
calculated for each type of support. Satisfaction with each
type of support was measured on a 5-point scale (1 = bad;
5 = very good). All questions were read to the participants
and the responses were recorded verbatim. Co-score reliability on the satisfaction support was established at 90 %
before data collection began. Reliability for two coders was
calculated by correlating their scores for each type of
support. Range reliability was .80–.87, and it was calculated by using the Spearman Brown correction formula.
The Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1–5 (CBCL
1–5)
The Child Behavior Checklist 1.5–5 [12] is a widely used
norm-referenced measure that assesses parental perception
for a wide range of emotional and behavioral disorders in
children aged 1.5–5 years. This measure has demonstrated
excellent test–retest reliability, cross-informant agreement,
and success in discriminating between referred and no
referred children [10].
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Analysis
Mann–Whitney U tests were used to examine group
differences. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
Results
Developmental Complexity of Self and Motherhood:
Differences Between Immigrant and Italian Teen
Mothers
Skewness and kurtosis of all variables were examined. All
variables were tested for normality using the Shapiro–Wilk
test. The interview variables were found to be non-normally distributed. Therefore, nonparametric tests were
applied.
Results revealed that Italian-born adolescent mothers
obtained significantly higher (i.e. more adaptive) scores in
developmental complexity of responses related to mother-
hood (U = 36.50, p\.001) than immigrant adolescent
mothers. As well more positive responses were recorded re.
how life had changed for the young mothers (U = 42,
p\.001), and re. their general experience of mothering
(U = 64, p\.001) (Table 1).
Adolescent Mother’s Social Support: Differences
Between Immigrant and Italian Teen Mothers
Mann–Whitney U tests were conducted to examine dif-
ferences between the two groups on perceived availability
of, and satisfaction with social support. Results revealed
that Italian-born adolescent mothers obtained higher scores
on social support availability dimensions of cognitive
guidance (U = 61, p\.001), and child-care support
related to perceived availability (U = 98, p\.001), than
immigrant adolescent mothers. In addition, Italian-born
adolescent mothers showed higher scores on all dimensions of satisfaction with social support, as reported in
Table 2.
Internalizing and Externalizing Problems of Children:
Differences Between Immigrant and Italian Adolescent
Mothers’ Perceptions
Mann–Whitney U tests were conducted to examine dif-
ferences on Internalizing, Externalizing, and CBCL Total
Problem score. Results revealed that immigrant adolescent
mothers characterized their children as showing higher
levels of internalizing problems (U = 61, p\.001;
M = 22.38; SD = 11.46), externalizing Problems
(U = 98, p\.001; M = 23.50; SD = 7.09), and total
problems (U = 98, p\.001; M = 67.75; SD = 27.48),
than Italian-born adolescent mothers (M = 5.13; SD =
2.80; M = 10.38; SD = 5.99; M = 26.75; SD = 16.05;
respectively). Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
J Immigrant Minority Health (2014) 16:321–325 323
123
Discussion
The Italian immigrant adolescent mothers in this explor-
atory study experienced greater challenges, and showed
more vulnerabilities than a matched sample of Italian born
peers. Indeed, the young women surveyed reported sig-
nificantly greater concerns about the availability of, and
satisfaction with needed social support, all the while tes-
tifying to a less satisfying maternal experience, which
included the perception of more pronounced problems in
their offspring. These adolescents’ reports on their experience of motherhood were further characterized by less
developmental complexity than those of their counterparts,
indicating additional potential cognitive or emotional vulnerability. These preliminary data suggest that important
features of the widely researched ‘‘immigrant paradox’’
may not apply to young immigrant mothers in Italy,
especially if the latter are adolescent mothers. Clearly, the
current results need to be replicated with larger samples in
Italy, other European countries, as well as in North
America. Should future research confirm the clear social,
cognitive, and mental health vulnerabilities recorded in this
sample of young immigrant mothers, this would have sig-
nificant implications for the design of specific policies, and
the establishment of tailored supportive services to address
the risks faced by these young mothers and, perhaps more
importantly, their offspring. Paying attention to the devel-
opmental needs of the children of very young immigrant
women may moreover provide some input to the puzzle
that currently occupies many health researchers: namely
Table 1 Means and standard deviations of self-related and motherhood questions for immigrant and Italian adolescent mothers
Italian adolescent mothers
(N = 13)
Immigrant adolescent mothers
(N = 17)
U
Description of self 4.38 (.87) 3.82 (1.23) 80.00
Discussion of goal behavior 3.08 (1.50) 2.88 (1.65) 101.50
Discussion of how life has changed 3.00 (.81) 1.94 (.82) 42.00*
Descriptions of the qualities of mothering 2.77 (1.16) 1.94 (.82) 64.00*
Descriptions of their children 3.31 (1.43) 2.47 (.94) 80.50
Developmental complexity of responses related to self
questions
7.46 (1.98) 6.71 (2.49) 92.00
Developmental complexity of responses related to motherhood
questions
9.08 (2.21) 6.35 (1.58) 36.50*
Standard deviations are in parentheses. Mann–Whitney U test
* p\.001
Table 2 Means and standard
deviations of social support for
immigrant and Italian
adolescent mothers
Standard deviations are in
parentheses. Mann–Whitney
U test
* p\.001
Italian adolescent mothers
(N = 13)
Immigrant adolescent mothers
(N = 17)
U
Perceived availability
Social participation 3.38 (1.04) 3.47 (1.07) 110.00
Cognitive guidance 1.92 (.86) 1.06 (0.72) 61.00*
Tangible assistance 2.31 (1.25) 1.53 (0.77) 74.00
Positive feedback 3.46 (1.12) 3.47 (1.28) 107.50
Emotional support 3.00 (1.08) 3.02 (1.36) 107.00
Pregnancy-related
support. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
3.31 (1.43) 3.12 (1.11) 42.00
Child-care support 1.64 (1.05) 0.65 (0.35) 98.00*
Satisfaction with
Social participation 13.77 (3.63) 10.00 (2.91) 47.00*
Cognitive guidance 13.76 (3.29) 9.53 (3.24) 37.00*
Tangible assistance 13.77 (4.16) 7.53 (2.15) 22.00*
Positive feedback 13.62 (3.35) 9.88 (3.33) 47.00*
Emotional support 13.14 (3.58) 9.88 (3.33) 58.50*
Pregnancy-related
support
13.15 (3.95) 10.00 (3.06) 56.00*
Child-care support 13.00 (4.65) 10.29 (3.88) 75.50*
324 J Immigrant Minority Health (2014) 16:321–325
123
the fact that second and third generation immigrants appear
show a decline on many indicators of health, education and
mental health. To solve some aspects of this puzzle could
assist societies that welcome immigrants in substantially
reducing the cost of providing health and mental health
services over the lifespan. Dual Vulnerability of Being Teen and an Immigrant Parent Case Study.
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