The Career Development Of Adolescent Mothers: Research To Practice

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice1CHAPTER 1A Culturally Sensitive Approach to the Career Development of Adolescent MothersMuch of the professional literature portrays adolescent motherhood as a social problemand a non-normative life event that results in negative long-term consequences for both themother and child (e.g., Bonell, 2004; Schellenbach, Witman, & Borowski, 1992). This portrayalsuggests that adolescent motherhood restricts the potential for future success by reducing anadolescent mother’s chances for developing the behaviors, skills, and psychological processes toeffectively cope with developmental tasks (Smith-Battle, 2005). Research on adolescentmotherhood can be separated into the categories of prevention and intervention. While beyondthe scope of this research endeavor, prevention literature is helpful to further understand thepregnant and parenting adolescent differs from peers who do not become pregnant duringadolescence and may also provide ideas to strengthen intervention strategies. In addition, theprevalence of diversity and multicultural issues in the adolescent pregnancy prevention literaturehelps to demonstrate why racial, cultural, ethnic, and other cultural factors like geographiclocation may be useful in developing a better understanding of adolescent pregnancy andparenting. Intervention research focuses on interpersonal issues and academic achievement ofadolescent mothers, which includes career development. Interpersonal issues studied haveincluded stress (Milan, Ickovics, Kershaw, Lewis, Meade, & Either, 2004), parenting skills(Feldman, 2007), and/or abuse or neglect potential (Hunt, Joe-Laidler, & MacKenzie, 2005).Research on the academics of adolescent mothers has focused on academic achievement (i.e.,grades and test scores), graduation rates (DeBolt, Pasley, & Kreutzer, 1990), and academicsuccess (Zachry, 2005). However, there is a striking dearth of research that explores the careerdevelopment of adolescent mothers (Sieger & Rank, 2007).Career development terminology can be misused and may have different interpretationsdepending on the theoretical framework utilized (Brown, 2002; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009).The current view on career is based on the narrative and the events and roles that constitute a life(Brott, 2005; Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2009). Career development is the behaviors, skills, andpsychological processes over the life span that integrates one’s life roles and values, decisionmaking, and self-concepts to effectively cope with developmental tasks (Niles & HarrisBowlsbey, 2009). Unfortunately, there is a gap in the literature to conceptualize the career

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice2development of adolescent mothers, and there are concerns about whether the current researchprovides an accurate portrayal (Bonell, 2004; Hunt et al., 2005; Smith-Battle, 2005).The concerns that exist about the career related research on adolescent mothers can beseparated into three general categories (Bonell, 2004; Smith-Battle, 2005). First, the currentresearch portrays adolescent motherhood as a societal problem and may not take intoconsideration the contextual factors that perpetuate adolescent pregnancy and motherhood andimpair the development of career related behaviors (Bonell, 2004). Second, the amount ofinformation presented in the professional literature on the career development of adolescentmothers is scant. Third, the current research may give an inaccurate picture of adolescentmothers as adults by presenting conflicted information and narrowly focusing on career in termsof educational and financial aspects (Smith-Battle, 2005).It is known that some adolescent mothers do find career success as adults, but little isknown about what makes some adolescent mothers successful and self-supporting in later lifewhile others remain dependent on family or public assistance (Rosengard, Pollock, Weitzen,Meers, & Phipps, 2006). Some strategies have proven to be effective in furthering the careerdevelopment of adolescent mothers (e.g., Klaw, Rhodes, & Fitzgerald, 2003). Understandingwhat has been successful in the past may help to explore possibilities for ensuring the future lifesuccess for adolescent mothers. Finally, it would be helpful to examine the factors that maypotentially influence the ability of adolescent mothers to adapt to their life events. Specifically,how the skills of planning, exploring, and decision making foster one’s ability to change in orderto fit new and changed circumstances into her life (Savickas, 1997). Career adaptability appearsto be a fitting way to view the career development of adolescent mothers because of the uniquechallenges and opportunities in their developing life stories.In order to set the stage for career adaptability of adolescent mothers, it is important tobegin with the contextual considerations of this population. The use of Bronfenbrenner’secological framework (1977) illustrates the numerous contextual considerations that influencethe parenting status and career development of adolescent girls of color. The combination offactors from the mircosystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem levels provides a wealth ofcontextual information about adolescent mothers and career development. The intent of givingattention to these influences is not to marginalize adolescent mothers but to more fully

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice3understand the complex and multidimensional nature of their reality in order to further theircareer development.Contextual Considerations for the Career Development of Adolescent MothersThe research on the topic of adolescent motherhood in the United States often beginswith the assumption that teenage pregnancy and parenthood is a societal problem, which isdifferent from how researchers in other countries approach the topic of adolescent pregnancy andmotherhood (Bonell, 2004). This health-based perspective of adolescent pregnancy andmotherhood, used in research in many European countries (Bonell, 2004), tends to focus on thephysical health in terms of frequency of prenatal care, infant’s weight at birth, and developing ahealthy diet and lifestyle for mother and child. For example, researchers in Great Britain tend toexamine adolescent pregnancy and motherhood from this more health-related perspective(Bonell, 2004). The assumption that teenage pregnancy is a societal problem that prevails in theresearch conducted in the United States results in a research bias towards studies that focus onracial, cultural, and economic factors (Bonell, 2004). Given this bias that adolescent pregnancyand parenting is often conceptualized as social problem, it is important that researchers in theUnited States view adolescent parenthood as a multidimensional issue that requires attention to anumber of contextual considerations (Hockaday, Crase, Shelly, & Stickdale, 2000). Concernsexist when researchers attempt to place the entire responsibility of the perceived social problemof adolescent motherhood on the individual adolescent mother (i.e., attention to only individualdifferences/characteristics) because it is both unfair and inaccurate if proper consideration is notgiven to the contextual factors (e.g., poverty) surrounding adolescent pregnancy and motherhood(Breheny & Stephens, 2007). The purpose in drawing attention to contextual considerations isnot to further marginalize adolescent mothers, but to draw attention to the impact these factorsmay have on adolescent motherhood in the United States (Breheny & Stephens, 2007).Excluding ecological and contextual variables that have been linked to adolescentpregnancy and parenthood provides only limited understanding of a complex andmultidimensional issue. One conceptual framework used to organize the multiple factors thatcan influence adolescent pregnancy and parenthood is Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective(Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Corcoran, Franklin, & Bennett, 2000). Bronfenbrenner’s ecologicalmodel has also been applied to career development in order to describe numerous and potentialfactors that contribute to the career development of adolescent mothers (Merrick, 1995).

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice4Bronfenbrenner (1977) delineated an ecological perspective that consisted of four levelsof interacting variables: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Themicrosystem consists of characteristics of the individual, his/her immediate setting, life roles,and time. The mesosystem is described as the environment in which an individual interacts. Theexosystem includes settings that affect the individual but with which the individual does notdirectly interact. Consistent with other research on adolescent mothers, the exosystem variablesare not covered here, since there are many other variables that have a more direct influence onadolescent mothers (Berry, Shillington, Peak, & Hohman, 2000; Corcoran et al., 2000; Merrick,1995). The macrosystem is the overarching patterns of culture that impact the individual.Corcoran et al. (2000) defined variables specifically related to each of these systems for thepurpose of examining adolescent pregnancy and parenting. In the study conducted by Corcoranet al., variables from three of the system levels of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective(1977), excluding the exosystem, were influential in contributing to adolescent pregnancy andparenting status. In terms of the career development of adolescent mothers, Merrick (1995)identified potential positive and negative influences at each system level. Each system (i.e.,mircosystem, mesosystem, and macrosystem) will be examined separately to highlightcontextual considerations for both adolescent motherhood and the career development ofadolescent mothers.MicrosystemThe microsystem is defined by Bronfenbrenner (1977) as a set of relations between theindividual, her immediate setting, activities, roles (e.g., mother, daughter, or employee) and time.Factors from the microsystem can contribute to both adolescent pregnancy/parenting status andcareer development (Breheny & Stevens, 2000; Merrick, 1995). As the microsystem focusesprimarily on the individual, it highlights the individual characteristics and differences that maypredispose one to adolescent pregnancy/parenthood and influence career development skills andchoices.When researchers have used the microsystem to study adolescent mothers it has beenconceptualized as the psychological variables of the individual (i.e., depression, self-concept, andstress level) and the social psychological variable of substance use/abuse (Corcoran et al., 2000).In terms of individual and social psychological variables, the results are diverse based on thefocus of study and sample demographics (e.g., Breheny & Stephens, 2000). For example, results

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice5of one study indicated that self-esteem did not impact pregnancy rates of White adolescents, buthigher levels of self-esteem decreased the likelihood of an adolescent pregnancy for both Blackand Latina adolescents (Berry et al., 2000). In studying the psychological variable of substanceuse/abuse, Berry at al. (2000) found that: (a) cigarette use was related to an increased chance ofan adolescent pregnancy for both Black and White adolescents, (b) marijuana use was related toan increased chance of pregnancy for White adolescents, (c) neither cigarette nor marijuana usewas related to an increased chance of pregnancy for Latina adolescents, and (d) the use ofalcohol did not appear to be related to the possibility of an adolescent pregnancy in anyracial/ethnic group. Both individual and social psychological variables have been demonstratedto impact the likelihood becoming a mother during adolescence (e.g., Berry, et al., 2000).Subsequently, adolescent parenting may positively or negatively influence the careerdevelopment of adolescent mothers (e.g., Klaw et al., 2003).In terms of career development at the microsystem level, individual differences (e.g.,level of academic achievement and commitment), individual strengths, abilities, interests, andpersonality traits (e.g., introversion vs. extroversion) influence career development (e.g.,Hellenga, Aber, & Rhodes, 2002). As adolescents grow and mature from children to adults theylearn and discover many things about themselves as individuals that can influence their careerdevelopment (i.e., future life planning) based on personal strengths (e.g., academic success,strong social skills) preferences like abilities and interests (e.g., interest and ability in science).Most often this information about self (e.g., individual differences and personality traits) isacquired from interactions with family, peers, and other sources (Merrick, 1995). Therelationships with family members, peers, and other sources that generate thoughts, feelings, andattitudes about self that may be viewed through interactions present at the both the microsystemand mesosystem levels depending on subjective interpretation (Berry et al., 2000;Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Merrick, 1995). Given the potential for overlap into both the micro- andmeso- systems, all relationship factors even those that help to contribute to a betterunderstanding of the individual will be explored in the following section (i.e., mesosystem) tofacilitate organization and comparison.MesosystemAs described by Bronfenbrenner (1977), the mesosystem is the environment in which theindividual interacts. With respect to adolescent mothers, the mesosystem is often viewed in

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice6terms of the family dynamics/attachments, religion, peers, education, neighborhood, and level ofacculturation (Corcoran et al., 2000; Dehlendorf, Marchi, Vittinghoff, & Braverman, 2010). Theinfluences at the mesosystem level often compete and conflict with one another in terms of themessages adolescent girls receive with respect to sexual behaviors/attitudes and careerdevelopment. For example, family and church serve as important socializing agents in theAfrican American community and may promote abstinence as the only acceptable level of sexualactivity. Aaron and Jenkins (2002) contend that exclusive emphasis on sexual activity as areligious and moral anathema, may limit discussions with trusted adults about other aspects ofpregnancy prevention, leaving female adolescents vulnerable to peer influences andmisinformation (Aaron & Jenkins, 2002). The mesosystem provides adolescents with a numberof environmental influences (family dynamics/attachments, religion, peers, education,neighborhood, and level of acculturation), which can impact parenting status and careerdevelopment. For example, studies have shown that family members (i.e., parents, siblings, andextended family) can influence both sexual behaviors/attitudes and likelihood of adolescentpregnancy (e.g., Aarons & Jenkins, 2002) and career development (e.g., Brosh, Weigel & Evans,2007).Family dynamics. Family dynamics that can detract from the quality of the familyenvironment and are considered risk factors for adolescent pregnancy and parenthood are: singlemother households, family history of adolescent pregnancy/parenting, low parental educationlevel, and sibling pressure to be sexually active (Corcoran et al., 2000; East, Khoo, & Reyes,2006). Family attachment patterns, level of parent involvement, and level of parentalsupervision also influence the likelihood of adolescent pregnancy (Browning & Burrington,2006; South & Baumer, 2000). Adolescents whose parents are unable to provide adequatesupervision and/or to foster positive parent-child relationships/interactions are more vulnerableto potential negative influences (e.g., peer pressure) that may increase the likelihood of anadolescent pregnancy (Browning & Burrington, 2006). Family dynamics that are consideredprotective factors against adolescent pregnancy/parenting include: connected and vigilantparents, high parental educational expectations, and communication of parental disapproval ofadolescent sexual activity/pregnancy/parenting (East et al., 2006).The career development of adolescent mothers is often influenced by family members interms of both support and knowledge (Brosh et al., 2007). Adolescent mothers report parents

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice7and other family members as sources of both support and information with respect to careerdevelopment (Stiles, 2005). Children and adolescents learn both directly and indirectly aboutcareer development from their parents and other family members. Directly, family members caninitiate and participate in discussions with adolescent mothers to give and receive informationabout career knowledge, skills, and/or interests (Hellenga et al., 2002). Indirectly, parents andother family members also may serve as role models for work related behaviors, career choices,prioritization of educational/occupational choices, and overall life planning (Brosh et al., 2007).Given the influence that parents have over the sexual attitudes/behaviors and career developmentof adolescent mothers before and after motherhood it is important to know some of the familyvalues which may influence how and what information is communicated.Religious beliefs. When religious beliefs are the basis for the family’s value system,these beliefs influence how adolescent sexual activity, pregnancy and parenting are perceivedand discussed by the family (Aarons & Jenkins, 2002). In some studies, adolescents of color aremore likely than White adolescent to attend church regularly and/or indicate strong familyreligious beliefs (e.g., Hockaday et al., 2000). Studies with focus groups of pregnant andparenting adolescents of color indicate that the adolescents attribute the influences of religiousbeliefs of the family on the family’s attitudes towards sexual activity, contraception, andpregnancy (Aaron & Jenkins, 2002). Specifically due to strong religious beliefs, AfricanAmerican families traditionally have placed a high value on the sanctity of human life. AfricanAmerican families value having children, tend to discourage the termination of pregnancies, andare willing to help and support adolescent mothers despite the frustrations associated with thepremature nature of adolescent parenting (McAdoo, 2007). Similarly, Latino families tend to besupportive of adolescent mothers due to both solid collectivist world views and strong religiousbeliefs (Rivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo-Cooper, 2002). This support often follows a brief periodof anger due to the premature nature of the pregnancy, especially if it occurs out of wedlock(Rivera et al., 2002). The support that many families of color provide for adolescent mothersfollowing the birth of a child appears to be in conflict with the opposition to premarital sexexpressed by the family and church. However it is important to note that families and churchesalso believe in the sanctity of human life and appreciation of children so they provide pregnantadolescents with the support they need to become parents. These seemingly conflictingmessages of oppositions to premarital sex and support for adolescent mothers may be a

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice8contributing factor to the higher rates of adolescent pregnancy and parenting among adolescentsof color. Members of the African American and Hispanic church communities would not seethese messages as conflicting because the application of the biblical teachings and spiritualvalues of the church encourage a supportive reaction to adolescent pregnancy and parenthood(Rivera et al., 2002; Stevenson, 1990). However, it appears that many churches withcongregations of color do not tend to embrace more proactive measures like education andprevention programs for families to more effectively address sexuality, sex education, and theconsequences of adolescent pregnancy and parenthood (Stevenson, 1990). Stevenson (1990)suggests that church leaders seek to identify and accept the role o

The Career Development of Adolescent Mothers: Research to Practice 2 development of adolescent mothers, and there are concerns about whether the current research provides an accurate portrayal (Bonell, 2004; Hunt et al., 2005; Smith-Battle, 2005). The concerns that exist about the career related research on adolescent mothers can be