Longitudinal Patterns of Caregiving Sensitivity in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers.

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Title: Longitudinal Patterns of Caregiving Sensitivity in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers.
Authors: Milius, Hannah1 (AUTHOR) hannah.milius@maine.edu, Coulombe, Brianne1 (AUTHOR), Cho, Bridget1 (AUTHOR), Stafford, Jane1 (AUTHOR), Weed, Keri1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of Adolescence. Jun2026, Vol. 98 Issue 4, p1302-1310. 9p.
Subject Terms: *Teenage mothers, *Child development, *Parenting, *Longitudinal method, Parental sensitivity, Parental behavior in animals, Poor people
Abstract: Introduction: Adolescent mothers are at a heightened risk of experiencing adversity (e.g., financial insecurity) that may influence the patterns of their caregiving sensitivity across time. Ample research has focused on child outcomes related to caregiving sensitivity; however, less literature exists identifying the patterns of change and/or consistency across time, specifically amongst at‐risk samples. Thus, the current study examined longitudinal patterns of parenting sensitivity in a sample of adolescent mothers. Method: Participants included 162 adolescent mothers and their first‐born children from the midwestern and southeastern United States drawn from the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project (NDAPP). Maternal sensitivity was measured when children were 6 months, 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐years of age via researcher observation. Results: Growth mixture modeling revealed that a one‐class model was the best fit for the data, and that the slope of maternal sensitivity across timepoints was significant and positive. That is, mothers in general improved in sensitivity across time and no subgroups with differing trajectories emerged. Discussion: Mothers showed similar increases in their parenting sensitivity across time. It may have been that patterns of sensitivity were largely homologous because mothers came from comparable backgrounds and therefore navigated the transition into parenthood and childrearing in similar ways. Findings from this study also bring focus to adolescent mothers' improvement in parenting sensitivity across time. Such results aid in further reducing stigma associated with adolescent motherhood by highlighting their similarity to adult parent samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Adolescence is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Longitudinal Patterns of Caregiving Sensitivity in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Milius%2C+Hannah%22">Milius, Hannah</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> hannah.milius@maine.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Coulombe%2C+Brianne%22">Coulombe, Brianne</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cho%2C+Bridget%22">Cho, Bridget</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stafford%2C+Jane%22">Stafford, Jane</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Weed%2C+Keri%22">Weed, Keri</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Adolescence%22">Journal of Adolescence</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 98 Issue 4, p1302-1310. 9p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teenage+mothers%22">Teenage mothers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parenting%22">Parenting</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Longitudinal+method%22">Longitudinal method</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parental+sensitivity%22">Parental sensitivity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parental+behavior+in+animals%22">Parental behavior in animals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Poor+people%22">Poor people</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Introduction: Adolescent mothers are at a heightened risk of experiencing adversity (e.g., financial insecurity) that may influence the patterns of their caregiving sensitivity across time. Ample research has focused on child outcomes related to caregiving sensitivity; however, less literature exists identifying the patterns of change and/or consistency across time, specifically amongst at‐risk samples. Thus, the current study examined longitudinal patterns of parenting sensitivity in a sample of adolescent mothers. Method: Participants included 162 adolescent mothers and their first‐born children from the midwestern and southeastern United States drawn from the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project (NDAPP). Maternal sensitivity was measured when children were 6 months, 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐years of age via researcher observation. Results: Growth mixture modeling revealed that a one‐class model was the best fit for the data, and that the slope of maternal sensitivity across timepoints was significant and positive. That is, mothers in general improved in sensitivity across time and no subgroups with differing trajectories emerged. Discussion: Mothers showed similar increases in their parenting sensitivity across time. It may have been that patterns of sensitivity were largely homologous because mothers came from comparable backgrounds and therefore navigated the transition into parenthood and childrearing in similar ways. Findings from this study also bring focus to adolescent mothers' improvement in parenting sensitivity across time. Such results aid in further reducing stigma associated with adolescent motherhood by highlighting their similarity to adult parent samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Adolescence is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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        Value: 10.1002/jad.70142
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 1302
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Teenage mothers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Child development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parenting
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Longitudinal method
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parental sensitivity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Parental behavior in animals
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Poor people
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Longitudinal Patterns of Caregiving Sensitivity in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers.
        Type: main
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          Name:
            NameFull: Milius, Hannah
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            NameFull: Coulombe, Brianne
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            NameFull: Cho, Bridget
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            NameFull: Stafford, Jane
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            NameFull: Weed, Keri
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            – D: 01
              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 98
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