@article{ref1,
title="A comparison of the psychological resources of adolescents at low and high risk of mistreating their children",
journal="Journal of Pediatric Health Care",
year="2001",
author="Stevens-Simon, C. and Barrett, J.",
volume="15",
number="6",
pages="299-303",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to compare the psychological resources of pregnant teenagers who are at low and high risk for mistreating their children. METHOD: We studied 71 participants in a comprehensive, adolescent-oriented maternity program. During the prenatal period, the Family Stress Checklist was used to quantify child abuse potential, with scores > or =25 defining high risk. Information about the social context of the pregnancy and maternal psychological resources was obtained with self-administered questionnaires. A composite psychological resource variable was computed by summing the z scores for intelligence, mental health, and mastery, with scores < or =0 defining the low-resource group. RESULTS: Of the 71 teenagers, 26 (36.6%) were classified as high risk for child abuse and neglect. Compared with low-risk teens, high-risk teens had more behavioral problems, lower psychological resource scores (mean +/- SD of z score: -0.98 +/- 2.02 compared with 0.39 +/- 1.79; P =.004), and were more likely to have low psychological resources (69.2% compared with 44.4%; P =.04). CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant teenagers who are at risk for child abuse and neglect exhibit fewer psychological resources than their low-risk peers do, and may therefore benefit preferentially from intensive, in-home intervention.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0891-5245",
doi="10.1067/mph.2001.114385",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1067/mph.2001.114385"
}