Objectives: The objective of this symposium is to educate child psychiatrists and other mental health professionals on the complex issues that arise for pregnant and parenting adolescents, generally seen as a high risk group for poor maternal and infant outcomes.
Methods: This symposium will address issues such as engagement, assessment, empowerment and treatment for these teens and their babies in the context of case presentations by experienced clinicians. Discussion will focus on the role of mental health professionals, the importance of social support and the effects of psychosocial adversity on the teenage mother and her child.
We will discuss questions of why some teen mothers improve their life trajectories whereas others do not and how we as communities and as healthcare providers help or harm these mother-infant couples. We will examine: 1) the impact of stigma on teen mothers and on their babies, including the voices of lived experience for teen mothers; 2) the influence of stigma-generated stress on adolescent and infant social and neuropsychological development, 3) the maternal-child relationship in the context of development and stress; 4) empirical data about interventions for both pregnancy prevention and developmental support; 5) aspects of public policy that support or interfere with optimal health and development for teen mothers and babies.
Results: Although outcomes for infants of teen mothers remain below population averages, having a baby can be a turning point in the lives of some teen mothers, who have outcomes that are better than those of peers matched for SES.
Conclusions: Mental health professionals can work with pregnant and parenting adolescents to optimize the mental health of the adolescents and their children. Clinicians need to understand the challenges faced by parenting and pregnant adolescents and their children. Stigma against teen mothers and their babies is often overlooked or justified in social systems, including the healthcare system, and in government policies. Stigma has clearly been shown to impose stress on socially vulnerable groups and to be associated with poor outcomes for them. Greater awareness of the impact of stigma is needed as well as changes in attitudes, health care delivery, and social policy in order to reduce stigma and better support teen parents and their babies.
Keywords: Adolescent parents, adolescent mental health and development, infant mental health and development, social stigma.