A Longitudinal Examination of Support, Self-Esteem, and Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers' Parenting Efficacy

Guided by a risk and resilience framework, this study used a prospective longitudinal, multiplereporter design to examine how social support from a mother figure during pregnancy interacted with Mexican-origin adolescent mothers ' self-esteem to inform their parenting efficacy when their children were 10 months old. Using reports of perceived social support by adolescent mothers (M^sub age^ = 16.24, SD = 0.99) and their mother figures (M^sub age^ - 40.84, SD = 7.04) in 205 dyads, and controlling for demographic factors (i.e., adolescent age, adolescent nativity, family income, mothers' educational attainment, adolescent - mother coresidence) and adolescents' social support from a significant other, the findings indicated that social support during pregnancy was positively associated with adolescent mothers' future parenting efficacy when adolescent mothers had relatively lower self-esteem. The findings were consistent for adolescents' and mothers' reports and emphasize the value of social support from a mother figure among adolescent mothers with lower self-esteem. Implications for interventions are presented.Key Words: adolescent mothers, Latino, Mexican origin, parenting efficacy, social support.The term parenting efficacy generally refers to individuals' beliefs about their competence as a parent and, specifically, their ability to positively influence the behavior and development of their children (Coleman & Karraker, 2000). It is particularly worthy of study because of its positive association with mothers' parenting competence (see Jones & Prinz, 2005, for a review) and with child adjustment (e.g., Scaramella, SohrPreston, Callahan, & Mirabile, 2008). As such, understanding factors that promote maternal efficacy has significant implications for prevention work. Because children of adolescent mothers are at disproportionate risk for maladjustment (Black et ah, 2002), it is important to identify factors that may promote parenting efficacy among adolescent mothers. In fact, scholars suggest that parents who are unusually burdened (e.g., adolescent mothers) need to build their personal competence to be effective parents in the face of persistent stress (Coleman et ah, 2002). Because (a) Mexican-origin adolescent females have the highest birth rate of all ethnic groups in the United States ("Births: Final Data," 2007), (b) Mexican-origin female adolescents are at increased risk for poorer mental health than their counterparts from other ethnic groups (Joiner, Perez, Wagner, Berenson, & Marquina, 2001), and (c) adolescent mothers and their children are at high risk for maladjustment (Holcombe, Peterson, & Manlove, 2009), a focus on the parenting efficacy of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers is important. Thus, the current study examined factors that promoted Mexican-origin adolescent mothers' parenting efficacy.THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENT MOTHERS' PARENTING EFFICACYBandura's (1977) theoretical work underscores the prominent role of cognitive processes, such as one's efficacy beliefs, in behavior patterns. Self-efficacy involves one's expectations that one can successfully execute certain behaviors (Bandura, 1977). One's expectations affect not only the initiation of a behavior but also one's persistence at the task at hand. According to Bandura, efficacy expectations determine how much effort individuals will expend and how long they will persist in a task in the face of obstacles or adverse experiences (Bandura). Thus, a focus on parenting efficacy is particularly pertinent to adolescent mothers, who experience challenges and unique stressors during the early transition to parenthood (Trad, 1995).A large body of work has documented the benefits of perceiving oneself to be an efficacious parent and the risks of low perceived parenting efficacy. For example, research suggests that mothers who report lower parenting efficacy are at greater risk for parenting stress (Reece & Harkless, 1998), display less positive parenting (e. …