A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities

Abstract Background Teenage parenting is recognised as one of the greatest health and social problems in South Africa. Research in South Africa has shown that by the age of 18 years, more than 30% of teens have given birth at least once. Teen mothers may feel disempowered because they are ‘othered’...

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Main Authors: Samantha L. Coert, Babatope O. Adebiyi, Edna Rich, Nicolette V. Roman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2021-04-01
Series:BMC Women's Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01300-w
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spelling doaj-b22de44f40634a71b56517b2dafef9412021-04-18T11:20:56ZengBMCBMC Women's Health1472-68742021-04-0121111110.1186/s12905-021-01300-wA comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communitiesSamantha L. Coert0Babatope O. Adebiyi1Edna Rich2Nicolette V. Roman3Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western CapeCentre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western CapeCentre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western CapeCentre for Interdisciplinary Studies of Children, Families and Society, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western CapeAbstract Background Teenage parenting is recognised as one of the greatest health and social problems in South Africa. Research in South Africa has shown that by the age of 18 years, more than 30% of teens have given birth at least once. Teen mothers may feel disempowered because they are ‘othered’ and consequently, may develop forms of resistance which in most cases may inhibit their ability to parent. Social support is therefore, an imperative intervention for successful teen parenting but this is not clearly understood in South Africa. This study aimed to compare the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms. Methods A quantitative methodology with a cross-sectional comparative correlation design was conducted with 160 single teen mothers who resided with a family in a low socio-economic community. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire that comprised of the Social Provisions Scale, and the Parenting Sense of Competence scale. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used to investigate the data. Results A significant positive relationship between social support and parental efficacy was found. When comparing different family forms, single teen mothers’ residing with one parent reported greater levels of parental efficacy and single teen mothers’ residing with two parents, re-counted high levels of social support under the subscales; guide, reliable and nurture. However, when computing for guardian-skip generation, results show that there is no significant relationship between parental efficacy and social support. As well as no correlation across subscales of social support. Conclusion The positive relationships between social support and parental efficacy are important for planning and applying parenting programmes amongst single teen mothers and facilitating awareness regarding the importance of social support and family forms when considering parenting practices.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01300-wTeen parentingTeen mothersParental efficacyFamily formSocial supportTeenage pregnancy
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Samantha L. Coert
Babatope O. Adebiyi
Edna Rich
Nicolette V. Roman
spellingShingle Samantha L. Coert
Babatope O. Adebiyi
Edna Rich
Nicolette V. Roman
A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
BMC Women's Health
Teen parenting
Teen mothers
Parental efficacy
Family form
Social support
Teenage pregnancy
author_facet Samantha L. Coert
Babatope O. Adebiyi
Edna Rich
Nicolette V. Roman
author_sort Samantha L. Coert
title A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
title_short A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
title_full A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
title_fullStr A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
title_full_unstemmed A comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in South African low socioeconomic communities
title_sort comparison of the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms in south african low socioeconomic communities
publisher BMC
series BMC Women's Health
issn 1472-6874
publishDate 2021-04-01
description Abstract Background Teenage parenting is recognised as one of the greatest health and social problems in South Africa. Research in South Africa has shown that by the age of 18 years, more than 30% of teens have given birth at least once. Teen mothers may feel disempowered because they are ‘othered’ and consequently, may develop forms of resistance which in most cases may inhibit their ability to parent. Social support is therefore, an imperative intervention for successful teen parenting but this is not clearly understood in South Africa. This study aimed to compare the relationship between parental efficacy and social support systems of single teen mothers across different family forms. Methods A quantitative methodology with a cross-sectional comparative correlation design was conducted with 160 single teen mothers who resided with a family in a low socio-economic community. The participants completed a self-report questionnaire that comprised of the Social Provisions Scale, and the Parenting Sense of Competence scale. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used to investigate the data. Results A significant positive relationship between social support and parental efficacy was found. When comparing different family forms, single teen mothers’ residing with one parent reported greater levels of parental efficacy and single teen mothers’ residing with two parents, re-counted high levels of social support under the subscales; guide, reliable and nurture. However, when computing for guardian-skip generation, results show that there is no significant relationship between parental efficacy and social support. As well as no correlation across subscales of social support. Conclusion The positive relationships between social support and parental efficacy are important for planning and applying parenting programmes amongst single teen mothers and facilitating awareness regarding the importance of social support and family forms when considering parenting practices.
topic Teen parenting
Teen mothers
Parental efficacy
Family form
Social support
Teenage pregnancy
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01300-w
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