Paper
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines to Improve Psychosocial Health Care Outcomes for Toddlers:Teenage Mothers' Raising Toddler's: A 'Mirrored Identity Crisis'
Donna M. Hallas, PhD, APRN, BC, CPNP, Lienhard School of Nursing, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY, USA and Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco, MS, APRN, BC, CPNP, Pediatrics, Department of Health Services Suffolk County, Hauppaugue, NY, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: Discuss the 'mirrored identity crisis' expereinced by teenager mothers and thier toddlers and ways to assits the teenage mother to have postive mothering experience. |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe nursing interventions to improve the psychosocial health care outcomes of toddler's who are being raised by teenage mothers'. |
Teenagers and toddlers experience emotional upheavals as they progress through their respective stages of emotional and psychosocial development. However, when teenage mothers are suddenly confronted with raising a toddler, the teenager and the toddler experience a ‘mirrored identity crisis’, that has the potential for adverse effects on the psychosocial development of the teenager and the toddler as well as the ongoing mother/child relationship. Research studies investigating the experiences of teenager mothers’ raising toddlers are lacking. A systematic review of the literature was completed to explore the psychosocial patterns of development for teenagers and toddlers. These data were compared and contrasted to identify the potential emotional problems that teenager mothers may experience while raising a toddler. These data were collated and developed into guidelines to assist teenage mothers to meet the psychosocial needs of the toddler as well as understand her own personal psychosocial needs as an adolescent and as a parent of a toddler. Teenage mothers whose infants and toddlers received their health care in two pediatric primary health care centers received these guidelines when their infants were 6-months old. This age of the infant was selected so that the teenage mothers would have adequate time to become familiar with anticipated toddler behaviors and to prepare for the demands of raising a psychosocially healthy toddler. After the implementation of these guidelines entitled, “Fun Visits for Teens and Tots: Yeah! I’m a Toddler who Runs Faster then My Teenage Mom”, the teenage mothers reported more confidence in caring for their toddlers, positive behavioral changes of the toddlers as reported by the mothers, and a more positive mothering experience.