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When teens have children, both mothers and babies suffer negative consequences. Teen mothers often lack the appropriate parenting skills and find it difficult to cope with the stresses of parenthood, particularly if they lack support of either the fathers of their children or of their families. Often, the demands of fulfilling a parental role interferes with the teen mother's opportunity for peer relationships as well as the opportunity to develop her own sense of self-identity, a crucial development process for many individuals during their adolescent years. Infants born to teenage mothers tend to have lower birth weights and experience higher rates of premature delivery and infant mortality. As they grow older, these children are more likely to be injured or become ill, have academic and behavioral pro blems in school and become teenage parents themselves. |
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