By Elizabeth Aparicio, Ph.D., M.S.W.
“I think that was my main thing, looking at my mom. I looked at her and I would be like, I don’t want to be like you. I want to be better than you.”—Melanie, age 19
Prevention of child abuse and neglect is an ongoing public health need that disproportionately affects children born to very young parents. Children of teen mothers are twice as likely to enter foster care when compared to mothers aged just 20-21 years. Children of teen mothers with their own history of child maltreatment are 2-3 times as likely to be referred to child protective services as are children of teens without this trauma history. As such, targeted and attuned intergenerational child maltreatment prevention among maltreated teen mothers and their children is of paramount importance for the health and well-being of these particularly vulnerable families.
I looked at her and I would be like, I don’t want to be like you. I want to be better than you” Melanie, age 19
So, what can be done to help teen parents emerge from patterns of intergenerational abuse and neglect?
A new study lifts up the voices and experiences of young mothers in and recently aged out of foster care, which can inform new approaches and enhance existing strategies for child maltreatment prevention in these families. From 18 in-depth phenomenological interviews collected in Baltimore City, Maryland, with six young mothers, lived-experience themes of (1) treating children well/parenting differently and avoiding the system, and (2) reducing isolation and enhancing support emerged as characteristic of mothers’ experiences of working to break the cycle of child maltreatment in their families.
Earlier experiences of child abuse and neglect motivated these young mothers to do things differently: As Melanie shared, “…looking at my mom…I would be like, I don’t want to be like you. I want to be better than you.”
What can be done to help teen parents emerge from patterns of intergenerational abuse and neglect?
By using small strategies to live each day differently from what they’d experienced growing up, such as setting an intention to parent differently and consciously putting their children’s needs first, teens were able to begin to find success. The mothers expressed a dual focus on both providing good care for their children and making sure others knew they were doing well in order to avoid their children entering foster care; this was a constant worry.
Social isolation is a silent killer in our society, and is linked to a wide range of negative health outcomes. The mothers described severe social isolation and explained how challenging it is—seemingly impossible, at times—to reach out to others when you cannot trust and rely upon the very people meant to protect you in life: your parents. Yet, the youth expressed an urgent need for connection to foster parents, kin, mentors, and each other and to form safe, secure relationships.
Teen mothers described severe social isolation, a silent killer linked to wide range of negative health outcomes
Substance abuse prevention and mental health treatment emerged as particularly important to breaking the cycle of child maltreatment as the temptation to withdraw for temporary relief from painful experiences could be overwhelming. Ja’Nae explained:
“I notice that a lot of people, young people…are resorting to drugs and alcohol as a way of…taking their pain away. But at the end of the day, that’s not taking your pain away, it’s just inhibiting you from feeling and recognizing that pain for a little while. Because as soon as that drug wears off, all of that stuff still comes back to you.”
How to Intervene
Mothers expressed great desire to do things differently than what they had experienced growing up, but sometimes struggled with the “how.” Their experiences point to a number of possible approaches:
- Home visiting. Numerous long-term home visiting programs provide mothers with support in their own homes, such as the Nurse Family Partnership or Healthy Families America, which is currently being tested with pregnant and parenting foster youth in Illinois.
- Parent coaching. Strengths-based parent coaching models, such as the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) Program, focus on live, in-the-moment coaching to help mothers improve their parenting practices. This approach is currently being feasibility tested in Hawaii with child welfare-involved teen mothers.
- Teen-tot medical homes. Approaches such as the Generations Program of Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., ensure healthcare for moms and babies is provided by specialized providers within an intergenerational context.
- Trauma-based treatment. Behavioral health treatment that is oriented to the special needs of youth with trauma histories may be particularly helpful. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), for example, focuses on emotion regulation and problem-solving skills with 24-hour support available for crisis management.
- Policies and training that ensure mothers and babies are placed together in specialized foster homes. Foster parents need additional and different training to know how to welcome a mother–baby dyad into their families.
- Circles of social support. Young mothers working to prevent child maltreatment need communities of care wherein they can develop safe, secure relationships.
Funding: The University of Maryland School of Social Work funded this study.
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About the Author
Elizabeth Aparicio, Ph.D., M.S.W., is an assistant professor at University of Hawaii School of Social Work. Dr. Aparicio’s prevention-focused research agenda centers on three interconnected areas: teenage pregnancy and parenting, early childhood intervention, and child maltreatment. She has nearly a decade of clinical social work experience with foster youth and children in mental health settings. Dr. Aparicio earned her PhD from the University of Maryland School of Social Work and her B.A. and M.S.W. from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She completed a predoctoral fellowship in maternal and child health leadership development funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Dr. Aparicio’s current research includes an initial feasibility and efficacy study of a teen pregnancy prevention program for homeless youth and a feasibility study of the ABC parenting program with child welfare-involved teen parent–child dyads. Read more about Dr. Aparicio’s work.
