The mother-child-mother cycle in teenage mothers and their first born: Measures of adult attachment and maternal acceptance-rejection
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate how teen mothers' perceptions about their childhood relationships, particularly, of acceptance-rejection by their mothers, influence their subsequent perceptions of acceptance-rejection toward their first born. Attachment theory supports the premise of intergenerational transmission of perceptions through early interactional experiences, and Rohner's theory of parental acceptance-rejection complements the concepts of attachment theory. The present exploratory study uses the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire to measure teenage mothers' recollections of early maternal acceptance, the Adult Attachment Scale to measure the teenage mothers' ability to form secure adult relationships, and the Mother Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire to measure the degree of acceptance of teenage mothers toward their first born. Correlation and regression techniques were used to determine that early recollections of maternal acceptance and the ability to form close relationships are predictive of teenage mothers' acceptance toward their first born.
Subject Area
Social work|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Social psychology
Recommended Citation
Maglio, Gesomina Veronica, "The mother-child-mother cycle in teenage mothers and their first born: Measures of adult attachment and maternal acceptance-rejection" (1995). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9529890.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9529890
