The Degree of Seriousness of Psychological and Emotional Problems Displayed by Children of Adolescent Mothers - Essay Example

Adolescent Mothers Introduction Children born to teenage mothers often suffer many setbacks in life that includes school failure, 2) poverty and 3) physical and mental infirmities (When Children Have Children 2004). School failure is normally attributed to the fact that the teenage parents are unable to properly supervise and finance the education of their children since they themselves lack the education and viable sources of financial means. The poverty experienced by families of adolescent mothers is due to their inability to land a good job with a decent wage. One of the major disadvantages of teenage pregnancy is being cut off early from having to continue a formal education that could provide skills needed for employment (March of Dimes 2007). This factor among others normally inhibits the financial capacity of the adolescent mother to make ends meet. Aside for the foregoing, children born to teenage mothers are also at risk of mental and physical defects brought about by improper medical and prenatal care given during and after pregnancy. Another causative factor of such defects are attributed to the physiological and psychological immaturity of the teenage parent who at the time of pregnancy have been using prohibited drugs, was smoking and has not taken in sufficient balance diet and supplements that may have aided in having a normal and healthy baby (When Children Have Children 2004). Unplanned and unwanted pregnancies which occurs mostly to teenage mothers unveils varying range of negative emotions like anger, guilt and depression (When Children have Children). These negative emotions affects the parenting skills of teenage mothers. It clouds their normal views of parenting and fails to address the serious responsibilities it entails. This generally leads to physical abuse and neglect as a consequence of the adolescent mothers’ ineptness to administer her role as a parent (When Children have Children 2004). It is quite disastrous and unfortunate that many teenagers who become parents fail to realize that they abuse or neglect their children the effect would be instilling negative behavior and attitude within the c child’s fragile emotions and mental capacity. The most profound consequence would be the child, who would be turning an adolescent soon, will exhibit aggressive behavior, hostile intentions towards others and many unresolved interpersonal problems (Nancy Felipe Russo 1992). As such, the preceding negative attitudes and emotions paves way to a dysfunction life in adulthood, where teenagers become delinquents, alcoholics, drug addicts and prostitutes who are prone to suicide, robbery, murder and other types of juvenile crimes (Nancy Felipe Russo 1992). Statement of the Problem This study aims to present the degree of seriousness of psychological and emotional problems displayed by children of adolescent mothers. Teenagers who are deprived of their dependency needs at an earlier stage are more at risk of acting out such behaviors that needs to be addressed. Engaging in sexual intimacies has an effect of gratification that answers the needs for being close, loved and cared for. Unfortunately most unplanned or unwanted pregnancies are due to irresponsible and careless behavior that is propelled by impulsive behavior. Hence, the result of such rashness in trying to become an adult or acting like an adult has a dire consequence of becoming teenage parents whose offspring become problems of society (Benoit n.d.). Background of the Study (Literature Review) According to Benoit (n.d.), parents should be able to provide the adequate and consistent physical needs of a growing child. She says that the need for dependency and emotional stability must be met satisfactorily. Since teenage parents are not properly prepared emotionally and physically to answer the responsibilities of parenthood, the children they bear do not experience the emotional security needed in order to contend with the fear, anxieties and other confusing emotions at an early age and while growing up. It is essential to note that in order to have normal emotional and psychological outputs, the nurturing of emotions like love should be acknowledge constantly in words and in deeds. Benoit further stated that dealing with the physical needs of growing children in as important as dealing with their volatile emotions. It is a fact that sufficient money is needed to raise a child. Provision of basic needs such as shelter, food and clothing must be made possible. However, for teenage parents whose education was curtailed because of early pregnancy, the possibility of meeting daily expenses is nil. That is why majority of adolescent parents turn to government welfare for support and constantly seek financial help from family and friends. Another study made by the American Psychology Association (PRWeb 2005), showed that children who are deprived of frequent contact or communication with their respective biological parents are more prone to drug abuse, being school drop outs, teenage pregnancy and a varying behavioral and emotional string of problems. This is to show that teenage parents who opt to give their children up for adoption or foster care brings about negative psychological and emotional defects, because they cannot assume their roles as primary caregivers of their children. What teenage mothers often fail to understand is that children benefit greatly when they spend time with their biological parents. Doing the normal daily activities like household chores, shopping, etc., doe great wonders in building a strong foundation for parent-child relationship. In a research made by Russo (1992), children from teenage pregnancies are more likely to: 1) have chaotic and insecure family lives; 2) suffer child abuse and neglect; 3)anger prone and irritable; 4) be involved in drugs, alcohol and displays criminal tendency behaviors; 5) exhibit psychological distress; 6) have academic problems; 7) often have job dissatisfaction; 8) have early sexual experience; 9) have marital problems and 10) be welfare recipients. She likewise says that majority of the children from teenage pregnancies in the United States are associated with juvenile delinquencies in relation to psychological and social problems which takes its roots from abuse and neglect tendered by incompetent teenage parenthood. In agreement with the previous statements. Coleman et al. (2008) state that “child maltreatment is one of the most troubling social problems” in the United States. Maltreatment which is comprised of abuse and neglect are due to many factors such as poverty and poor parenting skills. Coleman’s research shows that the unresolved emotional problems of teenage mothers lead to negative parenting attitudes and behaviors that make children recipients of neglect and abuse. Another study (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.) stated that homes run by teenage mothers have dependents or children who are very susceptible to depression, mental health problems, poverty and lack of father figures. Single parenting is another consequence of teenage childbearing. Most teenager pregnancies results to the lost of a partner eventually due to emotional immaturity. Child raising requires a complete family unit which is normally composed of a father, mother and child/children. Consequently, the lost of one figurehead within the home causes emotional and psychological instability within the personality of each home member. Benoit (n.d.) also presented that child abuse and neglect arises from: 1. Unplanned pregnancy 2. Ambivalence toward pregnancy 3. Younger age at first birth 4. Two or more children under age five 5. Large family size 6. Close spacing between two births 7. Less than 12 month spacing between births 8. More children by different fathers 9. Crowding The above factors are causes why children suffer abuse and neglect. Most of them are runaways who become delinquent in the streets in order to survive. Teenage parents need to be educated on the facts pregnancy having children. Proper rearing and demonstration of adept responsibility is needed to keep children out of trouble and have a normal life. Application/Discussion There may have been a steady decline in the occurrence of teen pregnancies and teen birth rates in the United States within the past years. But it does not alter the fact that teenage pregnancies causes a chain of problems because teenage mothers fail to provide productive lives for their children (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). Since most teenage parents are not properly equipped to raise children, work, pay utilities and bills, the stress caused by such enormous responsibilities causes negative emotional and psychological outbreak that not only affects the main family unit but society as well (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). Children of Teenage mothers are more likely to (Nancy Felipe Russo 1992): 1. Experience child neglect. 2. Display lower intelligence and repeat a grade. 3. Show poorer adjustment to school and exhibit delinquent behavior. 4. Live in homes not headed by their biological parents. 5. Lives with a single parent. 6. Have social and emotional problems including problems relating to peers. 7. Smoke, drink and use drugs as teenagers. 8. Become teenage parents themselves. Child neglect is often associated with teenage parents who are usually not ready for the responsibility of raising children and the realities they need to face to survive daily (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). Because teenage mothers cannot cope with the constant demands of taking care of a baby or a growing child. Hence, they fail to positively commit or answer to the physical, emotional and mental needs of their children. Given that teenage mothers cannot supervise and cultivate the cognitive needs of their offspring, most of these children have a below average intelligence that hinders them from properly gaining knowledge in school. Because of prior emotional and psychological problems met within the household, children of teenage parents have low self esteem, which makes it hard for them to adapt easily in school and be a normal part of society. And since they feel unwanted or cannot be at par with their peers, they ten to exhibit delinquent behaviors in order to satisfy personal emotional or psychological cravings and get the attention they need that was denied them while growing up. Foster homes typically cannot make up for the relationship that should be formed between a child and his or her biological parents. The need to establish a link of their own personality with their biological parents has a subconscious effect of needing to know where one came from and how they fit with the people around them and the society at large. Failure to establish such a link cases dilemmas of feeling unwanted and an outcast. These pessimistic feelings may sooner or later pave way for anxieties and personal identity disorders which will require professional psychiatric treatment. In most instances, parents are considered “role figures”. Thus, growing up or living with a single parent and all that it entails often connotes that being a single figurehead is agreeable in all aspects. Children who are from a single parent household often feel unloved and rejected. The feelings of being unwanted and rejection is usually manifested by depression, frequent illness, eating and sleeping disorders (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). As an aftermath of having alienating emotions and unconstructive mentality, most children raised by teenage mothers subconsciously try to find love, security and belongingness that is why most of them engage in intimate relationships early and repeat the vicious cycle of becoming teenage parents. Girls are not the only affected ones when it comes to being raised in a single parent household. Males or boys needs a male role model that only a biological father could give. Often males who grew up in single parent households are more likely to be lazy, immature and disrespects women (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). On the other side of the coin, females who grow up without father figures generally have bad relationships with men. They usually try to find the affections they crave from the men they meet in the course of their natural lives and have wrong ideas on what a real relationship is between a man and a woman (The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children n.d.). Financially speaking, most teenage mothers rely on government welfare programs to survive the monetary expenses of their household (Waltohar n.d.). Children should not suffer for the mistakes of their parents. Unfortunately, majority of these said children from teenage pregnancies are immediately demoted to lower class and could not compete at par with other children who are given the best of everything. Since they are forced to attend poor equipped schools in a sometimes violent neighborhood and live in rodent infested tenements, they fail to become productive citizens in the community (Waltohar, n.d.). Teenage parenthood predisposes teenage girls to the following psychological factors (Benoit n.d.): 1. Unmet early dependency needs – most teenage mothers are not ready to take on the responsibility of child bearing and rearing because they have not reached the point of being fully mature emotionally and psychologically. 2. The wish to appear as adults – since adolescence is the stage where one leave being a child behind and faces adulthood, teenagers believe that the ability to engage in sexual activities and become parents identifies them as adults. What they do not comprehend is that there is more to being a parent aside from biologically fathering or mothering a child. 3. Denial of demands of babies – majority of teenage mothers are usually emotionally deprived. The though of satisfying their own needs to be taken care of because of their babies is generally hidden in denial. They are unable to understand the fact that having a baby requires more than the need to be taken care of which usually supersedes the needs of the mother. In this regard the “identify with their own mothers who often were teenage mothers themselves.” The above psychological impact of teenage childbearing is habitually generated by unresolved personal problems of the teenage mother. Such intrinsic factors makes child rearing difficult because of the mother’s failure to make right judgments. In retrospect, children from teenage pregnancies suffer a lot of conflicting negative emotions that may trigger unwanted psychological defects unless treated properly at an early stage. Abortion in connection to teenage pregnancy is done by teenage girls or women for different reasons which are usually related to the health and well-being of the family. Consequently, unwanted childbearing is due to many factors such as (Nancy Felipe Russo 2005): 1. Immaturity 2. Poverty 3. Social and educational disadvantage 4. Marital conflict and instability 5. Teenage childbearing 6. Single parenthood 7. Psychological and social disadvantage for mother and child As most studies show one of the saddest thing to acknowledge is having an unwanted child. The impact of this could be seen later when the teenage mother cannot survive the guilt and burden of having had an abortion which subsequently affects her relationship with other children she may have in the future. While the teenage mother who had an abortion cannot cope up with her personal problems, she may be causing another crisis by neglecting her other children who are affected because of being abandoned and left to fend for themselves. When this scenario happens, as it often does, these children now harbor ill feelings that are manifested through delinquent behavior in order to get the attention and love their parents were not able to provide within their home. Conclusion Unwanted childbearing in teenagers in the United States is in connection with immaturity, poverty and marital instability. Unwanted children from unplanned or unwanted pregnancies are more prone to be subjected to child abuse and neglect (Nancy Felipe Russo 1992). Children of adolescent mothers are at greater risk of having low intellect because their teenage parents did not achieve a higher education that could likewise give them a better chance at having a good education. They are also more inclined to have health complications because they are not given the proper medical care from pregnancy and after birth. Said children also have more behavior and attitude problems since they are not properly guided by their adolescent mother or parents who are in every aspect immature and do not have the resources to deal with their own problems much less help their children solve theirs. When crisis or problems arise most teenagers due to their immaturity take refuge in drugs and alcohol. Those who use drugs and alcohol to forget their problems usually state that it helps them become numbed to the hard realities of life. But what these teenagers do not realize is that they are just adding more problems in their already torn and withered lives especially if they have children. Because of the constant use of drugs and alcohol, teenage parents are unable to care for their children who need to be looked after constantly. Moreover, teenage mothers are beleaguered by the reality that they need to support their children in every aspect and still try to inculcate right principles within their lives and homes (Waltohar n.d.), which of course makes their life a drudgery and twice harder than it really seems. Recommendations Teenagers should be encouraged to postpone sexual intimacies. The risk of having low scholastic achievements, health complications, and financial difficulties, psychological and emotional defects must be pointed out objectively and subjectively. Seminars should be conducted at schools regularly to educate students about contraception and sex education. Teenage girls must be urged to delay childbearing and instead must be encouraged to finish formal schooling to have a better future (March of Dimes 2007). When teenagers become pregnant, they should be provided with all the options they need to consider with regards to their pregnancy. While abortion may be an option, it should be the last resort that must be taken. Support should always come from all sources, from friends, the community, the family and the father of the child. Such support will help ease the desperate situation of the pregnant teenager and will help her focus more on having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Since the cause of children, from teenage parents, becoming juvenile delinquents is at a high percentage, teenagers who get pregnant must be encourage to continue and finish their studies. They and their children will be better off financially when the parents have a good job that provides a regular income which will put food on the table, clothes on their backs, a decent house to live in and gain access to good schools. Adult parents of the teenage parents must likewise help out in any way they can especially in taking care of the babies and children who are in no way to be blamed for their parent’s oversights. The fact cannot be hidden that most teenagers, due to their immaturity and haste to become grown ups become careless and irresponsible. Nevertheless, the errors they make are tragic lessons for them that are sufficient to make them realize that there is more to life than satisfying and gratifying one’s own personal needs. As they say “prevention is better than cure”. Hence, to prevent the rise of numbers of juvenile delinquents, educational campaigns to further reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy should be a collaborative effort of parents, the local community, the media and the national government to achieve a more thorough and effective outcome. References Benoit, Marilyn B. M.D. (n.d.) The Role of Psychological Factors: Preventing Second Births to Teenage Mothers, University of Maryland School of Public Policy Welfare Reform Academy. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.welfareacademy.org/conf/papers/psych.shtml Coleman, Priscilla K., Ph.D., Rue, Vincent M., Ph. D., Coyle, Catherine T., Ph. D., Maxey, Charles D., B.S. (2008) Induced Abortion and Child-Directed Aggression Among Mothers of Maltreated Children. The Internet Journal of Pediatrics and Neonatology ISSN: 1528-8374. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/rjpn/vol6n2/abortion.xml March of Dimes (2007, October) Teenage Pregnancy. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.marchofdimes.com/peofessional/14332_1159.asp PRWeb. (2205, June 12) Children Missing Contact with Both Biological Parents at Risk. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb250071.php Russo, Nancy Felipe (1992) Prepared for A Planned Parenthood Press Conference 6/29/92, Phoenix, Arizona. Abortion and Unwanted Childbearing: The Impact of Casey. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.mith2.umd.edu/WomensStudies/Computing/WMST-L/Logfiles/1992/07-92 The Effects of Teenage Pregnancy on Children (n.d.) Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.geocites.com/twrlr_grl/essay5.html Waltohar. (n.d.) The Effects of Teen Pregnancy on Children. Planet Papers. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.planetpapers.com/Assests/1900.php When Children Have Children (2004, July) American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Retrieved on April 27, 2008 from http://www.aaap.org/page.ww?name=When+Children+Have+Children§ion=Facts+for+Families Read More