Motherhood in Adolescence: Risk Factors, Parent-Infant Relationship, and Intervention Programs

Adolescent motherhood is a turning point in the life of the young mother, entailing potentially positive reorganization of her developmental trajectories. Very often, however, it is weighed down by cumulative risk factors which make her relationship with the infant difficult, with short- and long-term effects on the development of the infant and on the wellbeing of the mother. In fact, early motherhood is frequently associated with several risk factors both during pregnancy and post-partum, as socio-economic disadvantage, low levels of education, lack of social support, unstable relationships with the partner, being a single parent, and living with a multi-problematic family. Adolescent mothers are also more likely than adult mothers to have insecure attachment models and to have experienced physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Moreover, in the perinatal period, adolescent mothers often suffer from mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and parenting stress. With regard to the relationship with their infants, adolescent mothers have difficulty understanding the needs of their infants, often adopting intrusive and neglecting behavior with harsh parenting. In turn children of adolescent mothers are at risk for insecure and disorganized attachment, for suffering maltreatment by mothers, and for having psychopathological problems. We present an attachment-based intervention program (PRERAYMI, Promoting Responsiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Attachment in Young Mothers and Infants) to support adolescent mothers from pregnancy up to 2 years of the children, involving, when present, the father. It is based on the video feedback technique, psychological counselling, and developmental guidance with the aim to improve maternal sensitivity and mentalization and child secure attachment to the mother and to prevent psychopathological problems of the mother and the child.