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| Home-Based Mentoring for First-Time Adolescent Mothers |
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Programs that Work to Prevent Subsequent Pregnancy among Adolescent MothersProgram Components
For Use With
Evaluation Methodology
Evaluation Findings
Program DescriptionThis mentoring program is designed to provide the adolescent mother with: 1) negotiation skills for communicating with her own mother; 2) parenting skills for raising her infant; and 3) alternative strategies to achieving autonomy through a focus on personal values, decision-making, access to birth control, and goal setting. The program is based in social cognitive theory and relies on cultural norms, behavior and attitude modeling, and concepts of self-efficacy and social support.17 The mentors receive extensive training and also participate in weekly supervisory sessions. Mentors work 20 to 30 hours per week, with a caseload of up to 15 mothers. Mentors have a home visit with each mother twice a month. Each mentor provides her adolescent mothers with her own cell phone number and also keeps a log of visits completed, lessons covered, and responsiveness of the adolescent mothers.17 Evaluation MethodologyParticipants included low-income, adolescent mothers who were living with their own mother (the infant’s grandmother) and were eligible for WIC (Supplemental Nutritional Services for Women, Infants, and Children). The young mothers had a family income less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Participation was also limited to mothers who: were under age 18 at delivery; had no prior births; were of black race/ethnicity; had no indications in their medical charts of cocaine or heroin use; and had no chronic illnesses that would interfere with parenting or adolescent development. In addition, mothers were excluded if they had given birth to an infant at less than full term (37 weeks), of low birth weight (under 2500 g), or with congenital problems, chronic illness, or disability.17Mothers were recruited, shortly after delivery, at one of three urban hospitals in Baltimore, MD, between September 1997 and December 1999. Those who expressed an interest in enrolling were scheduled for an in-home evaluation at three weeks after delivery. More than 83 percent (181 of 219 eligible to participate) completed the baseline evaluation. There were no differences in maternal age or education between those who completed the baseline evaluation and those who did not. Mothers ranged in age from 13.5 to 17.9 years; 95 percent were enrolled in school; three percent were completing a GED program; nine percent had a paying job outside their home; 66 percent were romantically involved with the father of their infant.17 After the baseline evaluation, all the young mothers received information on community resources for young mothers and their children. Then, stratified on maternal age and the gender of the child, mothers were randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group. Families in the intervention group received home visits every other week until the infants’ first birthday, for a maximum of 19 visits. Families in the control condition received no further contact until the evaluation visits. In-home, follow-up evaluations were conducted at six, 13, and 24 months after baseline. Evaluators were unaware of the intervention status of the adolescent mothers, who also received compensation for baseline and follow-up evaluation visits.17 At each evaluation visit, adolescent mothers provided demographic information on their education, marital status, living arrangements, romantic relationships, and whether they had given birth since their first delivery. Mothers also reported on their life aspirations, including the likelihood that they would have a second child within the next five years. In addition, evaluators used several survey tools at each evaluation visit to assess: 1) risk behaviors; 2) mental health status; 3) academic skills; 4) self-esteem; 5) the quality of the adolescent mother’s relationship with her own mother; 6) the adolescent’s sense of her parenting competence; and 7) positive and negative life experiences since the previous evaluation.17 To assess the impact of the intervention on having a second infant within two years, only mothers who participated in both the baseline and the 24-month evaluation (n=149) were included in the analysis. Thirty-two mothers (18 percent) did not complete a 24-month evaluation. There were no differences in maternal age, maternal education, infant birth weight, infant gender, or intervention status between mothers who did (149 of 181) and mothers who did not complete the 24-month evaluation (32 of 191).17 Long-Term Outcomes
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