A review of social support theories and instruments used in adolescent mothering research

Abstract

This article reviews the theories and instruments used in 14 studies that measured social support levels of adolescent mothers. Two general trends were revealed, a tendency for researchers to: (1) avoid stating their theoretical perspective of social support and (2) develop new social support instruments rather than take advantage of those already in existence. Strategies are offered to match the social support theories and instruments with the particular study purpose and outcome variables. Use of both an established and a new social support instrument within the same study is recommended as a method of providing concurrent validation for the new instrument and promoting comparability across studies in different situations. Assessment of confounding among variables, construct overlap between measures, and the validity of social support and outcome instruments with adolescent mothers will promote a more accurate description of the role of social support in adolescent mothering.