ABSTRACT
Delays and problems in child functioning often appear early. Gulp, Osofsky, and O’Brien (1996) found that 1-year-old infants of adolescent mothers had fewer vocalizations than infants of adult mothers. Sandler (1979) found lower developmental assessment scores among 9-monthold infants of adolescent mothers compared to a control group of infants of adult mothers. Maracek (1979) reported that infants of adolescent mothers performed less well than infants of adult mothers on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 8 months of age, the SBIS at 4 years, and WISC at 7 years. In an early longitudinal study of children born to teenage mothers, less than 5% of the sample scored above average on the SBIS, whereas a disproportionate number (25%) scored below an IQ of 79 (Hardy, Welcher, Stanley, & Dallas, 1978). Broman (1981) found shorter gestational ages, lower birth weights, and poorer Apgar scores in newborns, as well as lower IQs, higher rates of mental retardation, delayed motor development, and higher frequencies of deviant behaviors among the 4-year-old children of
teenage mothers. A higher incidence of cerebral palsy and battered child syndrome was also noted.
