Exploring Factors Related to Parenting Competence among Navajo Teenage Mothers: Dual Techniques of Inquiry

Abstract

There exists a need for a comprehensive understanding of adolescent parenting, especially the analysis of cross-ethnic populations. To date, examinations have included primarily Euro-American, followed by African-American, and Hispanic-American populations (Wasserman, Rauh, Brunelli, Garcia-Castro, & Necos, 1990). Despite high rates of teenage parenting on the Navajo Reservation, no investigations of this population exist. In this manuscript, two studies exploring adolescent parenting among Navajo adolescent women are described. The first investigation included Navajo adolescent mothers living in a rural, Navajo Reservation community. This investigation was based on the tenets of the Process Model of Parenting Competence (Belsky, Robins, & Gamble, 1984), and employed quantitative techniques to explore factors posited as predicting parenting competence among adult and adolescent populations. Correlational analyses revealed associations in the expected directions suggesting the variables posited by the model are associated in the hypothesized ways for a young native group. A follow-up, qualitative investigation was conducted with a comparable sample of American Indian Navajo adolescent mothers. Interviews focused on factors posited by Belsky et al. (1984) for determining parenting behavior and revealed significant within group differences. Suggestions for future research are discussed. Key Words: adolescent parenting, American Indian, Navajo Reservation, parenting competence. Rochelle L. Dalla* and Wendy C. Gamble In the United States, approximately one million teenagers become pregnant every year and 60% carry their to term (Zabin & Hayward, 1993). Social scientists have increasingly focused their research inquiries on teenage pregnancy and childbearing (Kissman, 1988), and primarily on the negative consequences, with results suggesting educational deficits, economic strain and poor marital histories among women who become mothers as teenagers (see Zabin & Hayward, 1993; Mott & Marsiglio, 1985; Duncan, 1984). In addition, previous research has noted cognitive, social, and physical developmental delays in the children of adolescent parents, when compared to those born to older mothers (Zabin & Hayward, 1993; Panzarine, 1988; Garcia-Coll, Hoffman, Van Houten, & Oh, 1987). Yet, poor consequences are not universally characteristic of teenage pregnancies (Boyce, Schaefer, & Uitti, 1985, p. 1279). Age alone is an insufficient marker from which to judge maternal parenting efficacy and child outcome; rather, other personal and contextual factors contribute significantly to the developmental consequences, for both mother and child (Fulton, Murphy, & Anderson, 1991; Hechtman, 1989; Geronimus, 1987, 1986). A growing body of research has identified several exogenous factors which may exacerbate the stresses of adolescent parenting (e.g., discrimination, restricted educational opportunities, and poverty), or conversely, promote healthy adaptation to the parenting role (e.g., emotional and economic support, and high self-esteem of the primary caregiver) (Cox, Owen, Lewis, & Henderson, 1989; Boyce, Kay, & Uitti, 1988; Kleinman & Kessel, 1987) and contribute to more optimal developmental outcomes for children (Dubow & Luster, 1990). Such variables often distinguish competent, responsive parents from those who are less adequately adjusted to the parenting role, less sensitive to the needs of their children and thus, more at risk for adverse parenting practices. The Process Model of Parenting Competence (Belsky, Robins, & Gamble, 1984) serves as a heuristic for organizing both endogenous and exogenous determinants of parenting. Belsky and colleagues identify four factors influential in this regard, including, in order of significance: (1) psycho-social adjustment (or personal resources) of the primary caregiver (e.g., self-esteem and confidence in the parenting role); (2) quality of the marital relationship; (3) environmental sources of stress (e. …