Grandmother Social Support And Psychological Adjustment In Latina Adolescent Mothers

Latina adolescent mothers are a special population that is both under-researched and at higher risk for maladaptive outcomes when compared to European American, middle-class families. The use of familial sources of social support is frequently recommended to buffer the deleterious effects of environmental stressors that may otherwise lead to increased rates of psychological maladjustment in this population. A growing body of literature, however, suggests that support itself is not categorically adaptive, particularly in the context of a strained relationship with the support source, strain that may be associated with adolescent mother acculturation and enculturation level. The current study sought to examine in greater detail the associations between psychological adjustment and social support provided by a maternal figure, in a sample of 129 Latina adolescent mothers. Study aims included examining the relations between perceived grandmother social support, relationship strain between adolescent mother and grandmother, adolescent mother acculturation and enculturation level, and adolescent mother psychological symptomatology. Specifically, it was hypothesized that acculturation, enculturation, and relationship strain would moderate the relation between grandmother social support and adolescent mother psychological symptoms, as well as providing their own direct influence on psychological symptoms. Inconsistent with existing literature, hierarchical regression results failed to indicate significant direct effects of grandmother support, acculturation, enculturation, and relationship strain on adolescent mother psychological symptoms, when controlling for significant covariates. Additionally, the current study failed to detect proposed moderating influences of acculturation, enculturation, and relationship strain on the association between grandmother support and adolescent mother psychological symptoms. Nonetheless, patterns of bivariate associations between test and demographic variables provided a descriptive picture of participant characteristics that is consistent with existing literature and study predictions, and illustrated the complexity of the assessed constructs and their interrelations. This study adds to the existing literature by providing methodological recommendations for future research that are likely to prevent the obscuring of intricate relations among construct elements.